


The Fire Sermon

by morphogenesis



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cults, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Established Relationship, F/M, Idfic, No Nonary Games, Seven Is Shaped Like A Dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:53:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 48,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24387016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphogenesis/pseuds/morphogenesis
Summary: After escaping a cult as children, Junpei and Akane have carved out a living as detectives, though they’ve never forgotten the one they left behind: Aoi. When Aoi contacts them through an intermediary, looking to reunite, they go to him only to discover he’s not the person they left behind, and his involvement with their former captors hasn’t ended.And now he wants their help.ETA 2/16/21: This has been discontinued.
Relationships: Kurashiki Akane & Kurashiki Aoi, Kurashiki Akane/Tenmyouji Junpei
Comments: 21
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

Junpei still thought it was a dream:

The average morning was a mix of instant coffee, sleep-muddled heads, and the soft warm sensation of Akane beside him in bed. It was cold feet on the worn carpet and counting bullets retrieved from the cigar box that Junpei hid in the closet. It was picking at a peanut butter and jelly he’d made last night and forgotten, Akane moved to the fridge, and then he resumed eating only to end up feeding the remainder to her in bed with bites pulled off of the sandwich.

Ten years ago, it would’ve been rushing to get ready for morning service and slipping on a robe’s hem and Aoi nagging him to hurry up and stop oversleeping. Oatmeal eaten in silence and only a long boring day to look ahead to. Junpei didn’t think about school often but when he did he’d remark aloud to a usually neutral Akane that he preferred the flops they frequented in between jobs. She would roll her eyes and put a hand over his face when he tried to kiss her.

He didn’t regret running away. He didn’t regret her. He wouldn’t apologize for that. He didn’t even regret becoming a detective or following her instead of going home. Her presence prevented a greater darkness from overtaking him, he knew.

That morning Akane was standing at their only table, one of the few pieces of furniture in the studio, reviewing a casefile. She was known as the more exacting of the two, the one who re-checked evidence and found things others missed. Junpei wasn’t a slouch but she was the reason they had such a high solved rate. 

The case itself was a missing person, someone who walked out on the job and never returned. Problem being this man worked for a research laboratory with a fierce competitor. The lab that hired him wasn’t concerned about his wellbeing, just that the errant employee hadn’t taken any trade secrets with him when he left. 

Junpei and Akane’s attempts to gain access to the employee records had hit a wall and the facility itself was well-secured. Their agency had given the case to them as they had developed a unique skill set with their last employer that leant them to finding missing things easily, but this was a trial.

“I think we should call Mr. Tanaka,” she said, and at his groan said, “Just for his advice!” Easy for her to say as she was Tanaka’s favorite. Everyone knew it. He would say a flat ‘No’ to Junpei and then Akane could come along with her big eyes and cute plea and he’d say ‘Yes’ so fast.

“You’re calling,” Junpei grumbled and continued fiddling with his belt. “He doesn’t want to talk to me.” More like the other way around. Like a teenage son, Junpei felt itchy and just waiting for a fight when they spoke, and he’d kept his distance in the name of independence for a bit now.

“When are you going to grow up?” she teased, and her hand on her hip was delicate yet firm. They had lived together for years, and she was still just as fascinating to him as the day they met. “He misses you.”

“He misses _you_ ,” he replied. It had been months since Junpei and Akane had seen him due to work and it did feel strange considering they’d lived with him until last year, when they moved out because they took a job at an underground agency that promised to help them with their personal case. The arrangement had been advantageous but lonelier, and…

For cheer, he made his way over to her and kissed her. Akane was always there. They would always be there, they promised each other in the backseat of the car they escaped in years ago.

“He’ll help if it’s you asking,” he tried instead and she nodded. He watched her get dressed and admired her style; they didn’t have much money but she always managed to look put together with long, sleek silhouettes and pale colors. She styled him, too.

Akane called Tanaka and he reviewed what she’d been looking at. It was hard for Junpei to feel like he was giving it his all and still getting nowhere. From what he could hear, Akane was really working on Tanaka, bringing up his favorite baseball team and how she missed how they would stay up all night making Fantasy Baseball teams back in the day. Akane did not like baseball and never had.

When she hung up she made a little fist pump. “He’ll meet us at the usual spot.”

Junpei shook his head and got his keys.

The usual spot was a diner off the highway; not his favorite drive but far from the worst he’d ever had to do. On the way Akane kept her window down to feel the breeze.

When they pulled up, Junpei felt a heaviness in his stomach at the thought of seeing Tanaka again after the last time they met they got into an argument. He _was_ taking care of Akane, how dare the other man imply he wasn’t. They’d been cold and hungry with him and they were without him but they were fine.

They went inside and upon scanning the restaurant for him Junpei noticed his familiar bulk, outlined with a heavy jacket like Junpei’s own, and then someone across from him at his table. That was wrong; they were a tight clique and Tanaka would never just bring someone without giving them a heads up.

“He didn’t mention it,” Akane said when he asked. She considered the stranger neutrally before she seemed to recognize them. She made her way over to them and he followed her at a clip. As Akane got closer the stranger—a woman—stood and they met with a solid embrace in the middle of the diner.

Junpei held back and watched the two of them, noting the woman was a redhead and so familiar. When it hit him he wanted to sit down. He approached them and put a hand on Akane’s shoulder, nudging her aside before taking the woman in. He thought he would never see her again and her being right there was making him anxious. 

“Diana?” he said and she nodded at him, sniffing.

“You’ve gotten so big,” she said with a smile, and then stepped forward and pulled him into a tight embrace. 

Junpei was instantly reminded of being held by a loving sister, like how she’d felt to him all those years ago in that prison. Diana felt like the closest thing he’d had to home in ages. “Where have you been?”

Instead of answering, she put a hand on the back of his head and drew his head to her shoulder, burying his face in it, still sniffling. “I missed you two so much.”

Aware they were in public and unused to being held by people who weren’t Akane, Junpei wriggled out of her grip before long and stepped back. Diana was looking normal; a little tired, maybe, but otherwise she appeared healthy. Her red hair was shiny as he remembered it, her eyes just as kind.

“If you three are done,” Tanaka said from his seat, looking awkward at the display.

“Seven,” Akane entreated, using the silly nickname she’d given him when she realized his first name was ‘Kazuo,’ which could be written with the character for ‘seven.’ He tolerated it from her and once thumped Junpei for using it in a mocking way.

They sat down at the booth, Junpei and Akane on one side and Diana left to perch on the edge of the other side with Tanaka. Everyone ordered light, the purpose of the meeting not being to eat.

“How have you been?” Diana said. Her voice still sounded as fragile as a baby bird, and she looked at them like she didn’t believe they were really there.

“Well…” Junpei began, but Akane cut him off. He hissed as the band of her wedding ring caught against his skin.

“Mr. Tanaka took us in after you helped us escape. We took after him and now we’re detectives,” Akane said. “What have you been doing?”

They didn’t say that Diana wasn’t supposed to be alive, if she was away from Free the Soul. Nobody just left, save Junpei and Akane who were declared legally dead at the ages of 15. 

Diana shrugged. “Nothing special. After I left, I…” She bit her tongue and played with an empty creamer cup before saying, “I wandered.”

Junpei opened his mouth to push that response before Akane squeezed his knee under the table, telling him to be patient. “Why are you here now?” he settled for.

“I have news from your brother,” she said, addressing Akane. “He’s alive and he wants to see you.”

He looked to his right to see Akane’s reaction. Akane’s face was an interplay of emotions: sadness, surprise, fear, joy. They whirled together like a kaleidoscope, each one taking prominence before passing on to the next. She clutched a spoon in her fist from where she’d been playing with the silverware. She held her breath before it shuddered out of her.

“Are you sure?” she asked in a tone of voice she used for interrogation.

He had seen actual criminals crack under her gaze, but Diana didn’t pause. “Yes. I spoke to him.”

“Take me to him.”

“I don’t know where he is. He used an intermediary to find me. He just said to get this message to you and make sure you’re in Sparks at a certain time.”

“Where? When?” Akane’s voice rose, and she put both arms on the table and leaned over Diana, ignoring Junpei’s hand on the small of her back. “If you heard from him and he wants to meet me, he must have given you a clue!”

“Akane,” Tanaka said to her, and she shot him a betrayed look before straightening up. She nudged Junpei to move and he scooted aside, moving his legs so she could get out. 

“Please, where in Sparks?” she said to Diana, standing over her with her arms crossed. Akane was never one who could be bargained with, pleaded with, or deterred.

Diana gave them the location of a shopping center, and the date was tomorrow. She looked torn up just talking about it, and Junpei decided he needed to get her alone to discuss this further. At the moment, Akane was his priority. 

“Can I talk to you?” he asked Akane as he grabbed her elbow, gently pulling her toward the door. They stood outside in the sweltering mid-morning heat, next to their car which had seen better days. “I know you’re upset, but this is good! It means we can find him now. You just have to be patient, I don’t think Diana knows any more than what she’s told us.”

“I’ve been patient for years,” Akane said plaintively. “She arrives after years out of nowhere and she can’t tell us where she’s been? She has to know more than that.”

“I don’t disagree, but that’s not going to get us to Aoi.” The name sent a pang through him, both because of what the man meant to Akane and because Junpei could still remember the bristly but kind older boy who’d once held Junpei’s hand on the way to the infirmary when Junpei had stomach pains that felt like he was being stabbed by a dozen knives. “Do you trust me to get you there?”

“Yes.”

“Then trust Diana, because I do.”

Akane wiped at her eyes and tried to smile. “I always thought you had a crush on her back then.”

“I’ve never had a crush on anyone,” he lied. He pushed her hair behind her ear and thought of how he’d like to kiss her when they got home. He pictured being entwined on the floor or the couch or the bed, knowing they were so close to their goal.

Aoi was within their sights again. They just had to wait one day.

“Are you safe?” Junpei asked Diana before they parted ways in the parking lot. They’d spent breakfast talking as if they were normal schoolmates, not as if they’d been separated brutally as kids by shady machinations. 

“I am, unless you think renting a hotel room in Reno is unsafe,” Diana teased with a wink. “I’m fine, Junpei. Are you two okay?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Akane held his hand on the way home, humming to herself as she drove. After so many years, Aoi was coming home. He had to be.

**

Junpei met Akane when they were six years old, on the first day of elementary school. He was kidnapped alongside her when they were twelve, and for three long years he endured the same ‘education’ she had, being indoctrinated into what he now knew was a cult called Free the Soul. He could still recite the litanies when he was bored, and name the order of succession after Brother, should Brother ever die. At one time he’d, out of fear and delirium, been more afraid of Brother than of death. Years of systematic, soul crushing imprisonment would do that to a person.

He and Akane escaped when they were fifteen, and were loaded into a car by Diana who sneaked them out in the early morning hours before the sun was up. She’d wrapped a coat around each of them, kissed their foreheads, and wished them good luck and to be good to the man she was sending them to. By his math, Diana couldn’t have been more than nineteen when she took responsibility for two lives, but Diana had gotten them free when it seemed like nothing short of fate would do it.

Fate was a man named Kazuo Tanaka, huge and imposing but a soft touch, revealed when he awkwardly patted Akane and fawned over her when she started to cry from exhaustion and fear in the motel lobby. They’d been dropped off in a motel parking lot by an anonymous driver, and Tanaka was waiting for them. He’d fed them pizza that made Junpei throw up and let them stay up watching nature documentaries, huddled in the same bed for fear that this would end and they’d be dragged back to the compound they’d come from.

The plan had been to return Junpei to his parents’ home and Akane to a children’s home back in Japan, but Akane made a strong, cogent argument that it wasn’t safe to leave them just anywhere. That Free the Soul had stolen them out from under law enforcement and parents’ noses and there was no way to know they couldn’t do it again.

“I don’t want to go back to my parents, I want to stay with Akane!” Junpei had protested, and Tanaka listened. So Junpei stayed with her.

They fought and wailed until they got their way; Tanaka threw up his hands and said he’d look after them until they found a safe place. That safe place turned out to be with him; in an RV camped in Yellowstone, in lonely highway motels, and in houses Tanaka borrowed from his network of acquaintances. Tanaka taught them how to follow clues, to talk to informants, to hide, to break out of handcuffs and zipties, and to comb public records. He took pride in his little proteges and would even be caught praising them when they did well.

For years they lived like that, until Akane decided it was time they started looking for Aoi in earnest. She and Junpei set out on their own. 

Junpei made that choice, and spent every day making it the right choice.

**

“We could’ve done this by ourselves,” Junpei said to Tanaka, tucking his arms against his sides so Akane couldn’t pinch the skin over his ribs like she did when he was being petulant.

“If you think I’m leaving you two and anyone from Free the Soul alone together, you’re insane.”

“My brother isn’t working for them,” Akane insisted. She ground the toe of her boot into the sidewalk. They were standing outside of a frozen yogurt shop and Junpei eyed the cartoon frog mascot, inviting and cute. Junpei craved strawberries and cheesecake. “He was a prisoner like we were.”

“I’m just sayin’, if the last place we saw him was in their custody, how do we know this isn’t a ploy to get you back? This isn’t the first time they’ve tried.”

“And we’ve been fine every time,” Junpei offered in defense of Akane’s point of view. “Aoi is tough, I’m sure he’s gotten away by now.”

Akane nodded at him, pleased with his summation. “Niichan will be here.”

So they waited, not talking, making use of what little shade the awning provided. Junpei removed his jacket, valuing not getting heat stroke over aesthetic. He had no idea how Akane was comfortable in the long dress she was wearing that day. 

An hour had passed by the time he said, “Akane, I don’t know if he’s coming.”

“You said to trust Diana,” she pointed out. “Why would she lie?”

As Akane said this, a dark car pulled up into the empty space nearest them. Behind the wheel was one man, another in the passenger seat who got out and asked for their names. Junpei and Tanaka hesitated, but Akane identified herself bravely. Nothing was going to stop her if the possibility of seeing Aoi was on the line.

“Get into the car, please,” the unassuming man said, shuffling on his feet in a way unbecoming of a mysterious agent.

“No,” Junpei began, grabbing Akane’s arm when she went to move. “Why?”

“Because he’s waiting for you.”

Akane gasped, wrenched herself out of Junpei’s grasp, and with a sad backward look at Tanaka, she headed to the car. Junpei didn’t have a moment to look back as he followed her. Tanaka grabbed for him but Junpei felt his hand just miss his own, catching only the air.

In the car, Akane fidgeted with her skirt before looking at Junpei. “Everything is going to be fine.”

He hoped she was right.


	2. Chapter 2

It was hard to fight the feeling that they were in another hostage situation. Tanaka was right, they had come close to being recaptured several times over the years, but they’d always figured it out. Escape was always just a well-hidden razor blade or a bluff or a puzzle solved away. Now they were stuck in a car, driving in what felt like endless circles until they came to a stop in the welcoming valet entrance of a casino resort that he vaguely remembered losing at slots at once, waiting for an informant to show up on the casino floor. It was called the Odyssey, he remembered. The resort’s mock ancient Grecian columns were faded and in need of resurfacing.

Akane resembled a column in its prime: straight, rigid, and elegant as she stared out the window, eyes searching for her brother as they had for long years. He put a hand on her knee and she covered it with her own but didn’t look back at him. It was possible they were riding into another trap. It was also possible they were coming to the end of a long journey, one made up of long nights awake, false starts, and plaintive, comforting kisses.

They were handed a room keycard and told to head straight inside; their drivers were not doubting their obedience as they didn’t move to follow. He couldn’t tell if that boded well. The car pulled away from them smoothly and Junpei had barely turned when he felt Akane rip the keycard from his hand and saw her rush inside. He found her in the lavish blue, gold, and marble lobby, full of people checking in, discussing credits on accounts, making travel plans, and taking business calls. They were all oblivious to what had brought the two here.

“Akane!” he called to her back.

Still she persisted, in a run to the elevators now. He had no choice but to run after her, darting around a man comforting a whining child and nearly tripping over his own two feet.

Akane beat him into the elevator; he slid in behind her. “We’re at the Odyssey, Tanaka,” Akane said, one hand to her earpiece out of habit. On the trip there, it was hidden behind her long hair. Tanaka had raised them far too well for them to go into a new situation both unarmed and not wired. “Yes. Twenty-fifth floor. See you.”

The twenty-fifth floor only went up if one scanned the right keycard on the access panel; their room key sufficed. When they arrived and exited the elevator they found a long richly carpeted hallway with only a few doors, indicating there were probably only a few suites up there. The cardboard sleeve holding the key led them to a door at the end of the hall. 

Junpei slipped his hand into Akane’s as they walked. She slowed as they approached and hesitated before they went in.

“Everything you want could be on the other side,” Junpei offered.

“Not everything,” she said. “What if he doesn’t recognize me?” She pushed her hair behind her ear; her hair had been cut short by necessity back in the cult days and she preferred it short even before then, he recalled. She’d experimented with styles over the years but she’d always maintained an aura of cuteness, engendering protectiveness. His eyes wandered down to her ankle where he saw the bulk of a holster inside her boot. Not so in need of protection anymore.

“I’m sure he will.”

Akane didn’t seem comforted by that, though she nodded. Surely, she inserted the keycard into the card reader and the light turned green with a little click. While she did that, he unholstered his own gun and they both stood to the side of the door, Akane pushing it open with her foot. The sliver of the suite he could see was empty, and after she nodded to him he pushed the rest of the way inside.

There was no way one person was here; he counted two bedrooms with a king bed visible in the one he could see into from where he stood, a wet bar, a separate living room with an office setup (someone’s laptop was there, a pile of notebooks, a forgotten glass of water), and a closed door that presumably lead to the bathroom. Everything was shades of new rich: shiny black, shinier white, more marble, enough gold to make him think they were in Vegas.

Sensing movement beside him, he turned quickly to see Akane poking her head into the one bedroom, looking this way and that for her long-errant brother. She stepped back, looking disconcerted and confused. “Do you see anything?” she asked him.

“No.”

She took a deep breath and he could tell she was settling into the idea that this was another dead end for them. There had been many. They might leave this empty room, or this room hiding dangerous people, and go home. They’d order the same boring takeout and work on their current case and later that night she’d cry into her pillow, hard angry tears born of years of wasted effort.

That vision was shattered with a single word: “Wow.”

The closed door had opened and standing in it was a man whose resemblance to Akane could only be found if one knew where to look. He had on a tie but no jacket, like they’d caught him in the middle of getting ready, a theory fortified when he said, “You weren’t supposed to be here yet,” like he was disappointed in his appointed helpers. He looked between the two of them, and then was surprised when Akane shrieked, crossed the room, and threw herself at him in one motion. 

She knocked him back and pinned him to the doorframe, where he clapped her back in protest before saying, “Akane.” He brought one hand up to the back of her head and grabbed a fistful of her hair, holding her to him. Even when he brought his arm down she didn’t let go of him, visibly shaking head to toe and though she wasn’t making a sound, Junpei guessed she had to be sobbing.

Rather than her pained joy, resignation painted Aoi’s face before he was able to hide it. Before Junpei could consider what that meant, Aoi noticed the gun. 

“Give me that.” When he tried to extricate himself from Akane, she held on tighter and stopped him from moving. “Akane,” he tried again, pressing his cheek to her head with a little laugh.

She shook her head and it took more effort to remove her, with her sounding unhappy about it. Aoi approached and gestured to the gun still in Junpei’s hand, his own hand out like he expected it. “Lose that. Your wires, too.”

Junpei had a moment’s surprise as most people did not see him and anticipate he had a tiny camera affixed to a button on his shirt—though he did, a present after years of complaining that it was hard to make do with stills from cell phones—or that he carried a gun. He shook his head and holstered his gun instead; Aoi glowered at him. 

Behind him, Akane played with her hair but decided against taking out her earpiece. “Do you trust me, niichan? I came all the way here for you.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I never stopped looking for you,” she said in a creaky voice.

“Shh, shh, none of that,” Aoi said gently, ignoring Junpei to go back to her side and wipe her face with practiced hands. “I’m here.” He pulled her in for a last one-armed hug, patted her firmly on the back, and stepped back, like one would for a child crying over a scraped knee. “Are you thirsty?” he asked in a perfunctory way, and went to the wet bar and retrieved glasses. 

Junpei blinked. They were with their objective for years, the person Akane had never stopped dreaming they’d find and the person Junpei had felt countless hours of guilt over, and Aoi appeared unperturbed and was offering them drinks like they were long-parted business acquaintances.

“Yeah,” Junpei said, deciding a drink was the only thing for the situation to make sense. He accepted the drink Aoi poured him, something clear that he wouldn’t have picked for himself and that smelled particularly astringent. Junpei had consumed fancier alcohol once, also being treated by someone he was investigating. With Tanaka he just liked to slug back whatever was dark and lead to them swapping stories about whose baseball team was best.

“What is that?” Aoi asked with feigned interest when he noticed the wedding band on Junpei’s left hand. “Jumpy grew up.”

“Junpei is my husband,” Akane said behind him, and Junpei was relieved, as always, to hear that she sounded proud to say it.

For the first time Aoi looked genuinely surprised, and somewhat mortified. “Your what?”

Akane enjoyed his embarrassment and repeated, “My husband, niichan. We got married last year.”

Aoi stared at her before holding his hands up. “Congratulations, take the drink.”

Akane accepted it but set it down on the coffee table Aoi ushered them towards. She looked between them briefly before, Junpei noted with some pleasure still, sitting beside him so they were across from Aoi. Everyone sat in potent silence, taking the situation in, before Aoi began playing with something he’d taken out of his pocket—a coin. Junpei remembered the symbol stamped on it; he saw it a lot in his nightmares. The Eye of Horus.

“What’s that?”

“It’s something you get if you impress a bunch of jerks,” Aoi said before quickly hiding it back in his pocket. “So. Do you have any questions?”

“How long have you known where we were?” Akane said.

“Not long; I only just got off-leash long enough to track you two down.” He neither sighed nor smiled. “It’s been a long couple of years.”

“Us, too, so if you’d like to save some time and just tell us what you’re doing here—”

“Junpei!”

Aoi threw his ankle up over his other knee and leaned back with his arms on the back of the sofa. “Okay, here goes: I had to see my sister, and someone under me kicked the bucket and I need to find out why. Fast.”

“Why?”

Aoi shrugged. “Because they were probably trying to kill me.”

Akane gasped. “What? Niichan! You need to hide, come with us.”

“Not an option.” Aoi shifted in his seat. “I have too much going on here to pack up and leave.”

“What could matter? We’re together again!”

“I have people who depend on me and my influence,” he explained coolly. “Believe me, I want to go with you.”

That sympathy wasn’t in his eyes, Junpei noticed. Not a bit. He wondered what they’d found, but it certainly wasn’t Aoi, who would’ve died for his sister and had let her go so she could find a better life and freedom. “What’s the plan, Aoi?” he asked.

“You two figure out who wants to kill me, and I lay low. Aren’t you detectives?”

Akane said, “Why now? If you knew where we were, why now?”

“I told you—”

Akane stood up and walked back to the wet bar. She was shaking and Junpei could see it was with anger not with sadness or fear. Aoi went to her and put a hand on her back, saying something low to her, and she shook her head. Akane wasn’t easily won over, Junpei knew. No matter who they were, if she didn’t like their argument she wouldn’t rest until she’d won.

Aoi had no idea what he’d stepped into.

What were they in for in return?

There was a pounding on the door, and then Tanaka’s gruff, “Open up!”

“Don’t break the fucking door down! Some of us are paying for this!” Aoi shot back.

Junpei said, “We’re here,” and got up to open the door. Tanaka took up the doorway, looking at Junpei with relief. Junpei pointed to his camera. “You couldn’t see this?”

“Quiet.” He pushed his way in and seeing Akane was also fine, began to visibly calm down. “Is this him?”

“Yes,” Akane said. “How did you get up here anyway?” 

He pointed behind him, where Diana was hesitating to come inside, room key still in her hand.

“Diana!” Junpei said.

“Hi,” she said quietly. Her eyes slid to Aoi briefly before turning back to Junpei. “I’m glad you three met again,” she said.

“Just in time. Niichan needs our help.” Akane looked to Tanaka, hopeful. “Will you help us?”

“What’s going on?” After they explained he grumbled and then said, “Of course.” Anything for Akane, of course. He crossed his arms and looked to Aoi. Tanaka explained their normal business terms like Aoi was a client and Aoi leaned against the bar and just watched him before nodding once.

“What happened?” Tanaka asked.

“A week ago someone working for me was killed in my hotel room. Signs of a struggle, tossed the room, we think they expected me to be there because nobody else was supposed to be staying there.”

“I see. Can you get us the files?”

Aoi went to the laptop and pulled a USB drive out of it. “Here.” He tossed it to Junpei, who fumbled before catching it between his palms. 

“Are you alone now?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want anyone to know where I was. I’m a private guy. I don’t think this was an outsider who did this.”

“Someone in Free the Soul?”

“Yes.”

“They mad you left?”

Aoi shook his head and said steadily, “I never left.” He gestured to Diana. “She’s different.” He didn’t explain further. “She’s not going to be involved after this.”

Diana straightened up and her little fists were at her sides. “I said—”

His look cut her off, and for a moment a flash of anger crossed her face. She didn’t speak up. This was an old argument, but Diana wasn’t about to fight him.

“Let’s go home and go through this,” Junpei offered, holding up the USB.

Aoi said, “I was hoping you’d stay here. I have the room.” True, renting a massive suite for one person didn’t seem sensible.

“I want to stay,” Akane said in a rush. “With Junpei and Tanaka.”

Junpei couldn’t argue with her. Tanaka put up more of an argument before Akane steamrolled him.

While Akane and Tanaka discussed, Aoi dismissed Diana. As she left, Junpei slipped out and followed her into the hall. “Are you safe?”

Diana looked at him and though she looked worried, her lip caught between her teeth for a moment, she said, “Yes.”

She was lying. But he couldn’t prove it yet. He had to let her go, though he passed her his business card before she left. “Call me if you need anything.” He hoped she did.

Then he went back inside to face what awaited him there: a complicated family reunion and a mystery.

**

“I want to stay with niichan!” Akane stomped her foot and Aoi shushed her. She was holding up their escape and, selfishly, Junpei wished she would be quiet so they could hurry. Looking between the Kurashiki siblings, barely a foot apart with Aoi’s arms over Akane’s shoulders, he felt guilty for thinking so.

Aoi was the one who’d slipped him the information to come to the out of order bathroom near the boys’ sleeping quarters after the minders made their first rounds. He told Junpei it was for some good news. What Junpei found was him, Akane, and Diana with a stolen laundry cart that she instructed them to hurry and climb inside of because she was taking them outside.

‘Them’ didn’t include Aoi, as he revealed a moment later when Akane pointed out all three of them wouldn’t fit.

“They’ll notice I’m gone before they notice you are,” Aoi repeated, petting her head. “You have to go because you’re smart and you’ll figure out a way to rescue all of us.”

Akane sniffled and shook her head.

Junpei twisted the hem of his shirt. “Are you sure?” This was Aoi’s spot. He was taking Aoi’s chance to escape. It was obvious in Aoi’s sad, loving eyes and the way he hugged Akane so tight for the third time.

“Yeah,” he said to Junpei. His smile was a ghost of happiness. “Take care of her, okay?”

“Okay,” Junpei swore.

“I can’t go,” Akane protested, and then Aoi grabbed her under the arms and half-lifted, half-dragged her into the cart. She fought him for only a moment; her guilty face said she really did want to leave, just not without him.

“Listen to me. I have to stay here. You have to go out there. I know you’re going to come back for us.” He stroked her hair. “You’re the smartest person I know, Akane.”

“I’m sorry, we have to go,” Diana whispered. “Akane? Junpei?”

Junpei crammed himself in beside Akane, and Diana and Aoi layered dirty blankets and robes over them. Akane was trembling beside him and clutched his hand so tight all the way outside.

The next thing Junpei saw was the sky, not from behind a window or a chain-link fence, but the unadulterated, starry night sky.

He held his breath and waited for what came next.

**

Junpei knew now that he didn’t have to promise anything; Akane was strong and she didn’t complain. She protected herself, but he didn’t like how often she’d put her life on the line or the violence they’d seen. He couldn’t help it; she would forever be the one he cherished most in life.

She was beside him in the hotel bed, eyes closed but not sleeping. He took the hand she had pressed to her chest.

“He’s not the niichan I remember,” she admitted.

“Yeah. I’m sure he’s there somewhere.” He wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth. “And…” ‘We’ll be here,’ he didn’t say. He never had to be so forward; Akane knew what he meant.

He was exhausted but couldn’t sleep, so when Akane rolled over and kissed him he didn’t deny her. He deepened it and held her close. She didn’t speak, just knit her fingers over her belly and listened to him talk idly about what he always did when she was sad: the future, plans for when they found Aoi, what they’d do now. He played with her hair while he did. It was going to be okay. They’d make it okay.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked her when she’d been quiet for far too long.

“Eschatology.”

“Of course.” It was theological—the study of the end of the world, the doctrine of the end of all things. He was familiar with it because of the three years with Free the Soul, and more familiar because it was one of Akane’s many, many tangents. “Messianic, millennial, or apocalyptic?”

“Millennial. Free the Soul talked a lot about the ‘golden age’ after the end, didn’t they? I like the future you’re describing better.”

“I try.” He ran a hand up her arm. “Ours will be better.”

“Junpei.”

“What?”

“Promise me we’ll bring niichan back home, no matter what he’s involved with or who he’s become.”

“Okay.” Just like that. He’d always follow her. He was doomed to that from the beginning and he didn’t care. He kissed her again. “I promise.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you if you're reading this.

They were never supposed to see their first crime scene; Tanaka didn’t want them involved in anything at first. It was an accident that they were with him when he was called to a scene that he couldn’t ignore. Junpei had never seen a dead person before, and at sixteen wasn’t ready. He didn’t think he could’ve been at any point, but it disturbed him how calm he was when he considered the corpse.

“You didn’t tell me someone died,” Tanaka had hissed to his acquaintance who’d invited him to check out the scene. Tanaka had his own special mission, dovetailing with what had led him to take in Junpei and Akane (though it was supposed to be for a few nights, not a year at the time): he was investigating a series of abductions across Japan. Children. Similar ages to Junpei, Akane, and Aoi. Taken to an unknown location and according to the few who’d observed them, were being raised by a cult. To follow them. To carry out their missions and be their next generation.

He’d stumbled on his greatest find in the two teenagers, but he protected them.

Akane bent over as close as she could without touching the body and said, “He didn’t die from being shot. He didn’t bleed from the bullet wound at all. And—” At this she did bend over and inhaled. “His breath smells like bitter almonds. Somebody poisoned him.”

Tanaka seemed bowled over. He asked her to explain her deduction again, and when she did like it was obvious he ran a hand down his face.

They followed him around for the next few days with a chorus of ‘Let us help, let us help.’ They were bored, relegated to doing whatever resembled schoolwork that they could download off the Internet, watching old movies, reading his cop fiction, and playing cards. It was a step up from their old home, where nothing fun happened and they mostly read the canon, but they were still scared to go outside, convinced they’d be snapped back up.

Sometimes it was like they weren’t really free at all.

They continued to pester him until one day he pulled out the case file and scattered the contents across the table. “Here! Now stop driving me crazy.”

They pored over what they saw: autopsy report, ballistics, toxicology, and eyewitness statement. They bickered over what they saw, speculated, got told off for speculating, and wrote down every idea they had. 

Tanaka laughed at what they presented to him, but then he went back and explained to them where they went wrong, and they learned. 

It was their first case of many.

**

The body of Aoi’s former employee was different because Junpei was so used to it by then. The cause of death was bludgeoning, not a great choice for noise factor and blood splatter but it did the job. Brutal, yet quick. He flicked through the photographs on the USB drive with composure, Akane over his shoulder and Tanaka behind her. Their size difference was always funny especially when Junpei remembered she could make him all but eat out of her palm when she wanted to.

He wanted to get his hands on the crime scene but it was in NorCal and they didn’t have the time to go if they also wanted to protect Aoi. He had an important meeting of some kind he insisted he had to attend and was cagey about what exactly he did now. He’d just shrug and ignore the question if he didn’t want to answer it.

The three of them chatted amongst each other like they usually did, coming up with and shooting down ideas as they did. It was like being back home; if he was being honest he often turned down the wrong street on auto-pilot, assuming his home was still Tanaka’s place. Maybe Akane was right when she pointed out they obviously missed each other.

Aoi, leaning against the bar across the suite, was back to playing with that coin again. “What do you think?”

It was hard to say. Why kill someone they weren’t expecting to be there? Did they know it wasn’t Aoi? They had to have, right? Brutality and overkill were part of Free the Soul’s MO, they didn’t know how to take half measures. And if the victim survived he could’ve told Aoi someone was looking for him, and who.

“I think he’s dead. Why do you think it’s an inside job?” Tanaka asked, blunt yet astute as ever. Junpei would never admit it but he wanted to carry himself that way. He’d been trying to imitate Tanaka ever since he’d first seen a dead body.

“Simple—someone at work doesn’t like me.”

“So they’d kill you.”

“Yes.”

“Have you considered getting a new job?”

Aoi rolled his eyes.

What Junpei didn’t ask was ‘Why the hell would you stay?’

What was more frightening than the idea that Aoi couldn’t leave was the idea that he simply didn’t want to; that every teaching had stuck and he was true to the cult now. Junpei had to believe that a part of him was still resistant, still loyal to his sister more than anything.

Akane yawned and put a hand over her mouth; her wedding ring caught the light. He remembered the lies he’d had to come up with to justify why he was saving so much money without giving away the surprise. He’d proposed at midnight after a difficult case, his proposal may have included the words ‘In case we die,’ and she said yes with no hesitation. The ring doubled as her engagement ring and had small purple stones instead of a diamond. It was expensive but worth it as she loved everything about it.

“Do you have any enemies?” she asked.

“One guy. I kinda took his job from him.”

“What do you do, niichan?” she pressed again.

Aoi stretched his arms above his head, grabbing his elbow with one hand and bending his other arm behind his head. “I’m a stockbroker. I’m not bad at it, either. I make them a lot of money.”

It made sense to Junpei that Free the Soul would do this; they had already infiltrated politics, high society, and the military if Tanaka’s research was right. Sometimes Junpei wondered how much influence they held in the world, but he thought the answer would just depress him.

They’d stolen the kids to raise a special next generation. One with powers, ones who would someday grow up and serve the cult in specialized capacities. The kids they collected participated in a lot of experiments, but they also learned the teachings and about the end of the world. Junpei was at one time preparing to be one of their spies, and now he spied to bring them down.

All of their little experiments like this needed a lot of money, and who wouldn’t want a stockbroker to bring them more on top of the generous tithes from powerful members of society?

“That’s a lot of responsibility, how did you get that so young?” Junpei asked.

“I’m just that special,” Aoi said, sounding distant suddenly. “It’s related to the experiments we did in school. I can kinda see the future of the market, so I know which stocks will pay out and which ones are gonna be bunk.”

As far as Junpei knew, he himself had never exhibited any major signs of psychic powers; Akane he was sure because she was also just that special (to him and others), but not himself. Akane sometimes had vivid dreams she ascribed to their time there, but the things her dreams predicted were coincidence, or so he’d written them off at the time.

Regardless, this got Akane going and she began pestering Aoi for more information: when, where, why, and how. Her excitement was apparent as she thought she’d finally found someone who would entertain her theories.

Aoi waved a glass of something he’d poured. “Whoa, whoa, it’s not that interesting. Trust me, the less you know about what I do the better.” And with that he clammed up again.

Akane was disappointed and gave a little, “Niichan,” but was ignored.

“Does Diana work for you?” Junpei asked. “She said she left, but she knows you, and you…”

“Diana is like a friend,” Aoi said. He sipped his drink. “I looked out for her until she escaped, and we bumped into each other in California. I used her to find you two. I wasted a lot of time looking in Japan, like she said you’d be headed to, but then I got the idea to look here. She agreed to help me and gave me his name.” He nodded to Tanaka, “From there I poked around his network and heard about two people who fit your descriptions.”

“Right, because our names are different,” Akane said. They’d been declared dead when they were younger, to prevent anyone from their old lives finding them and bringing them back to the cult’s attention. It was not an easy decision; he missed answering to Junpei in public. His new last name, Hanaoka, wasn’t as special to him as Tenmyouji. Hanaoka may have well as been a different person.

Tanaka put an arm over Junpei’s shoulders suddenly, a bulk like a log weighing him down. “Can I talk to you two?” He tugged Akane with them back to the bedroom Junpei and Akane had used last night. Tanaka put an arm around her to bring them both into a huddle. “Do you trust him?”

“Of course, he’s my brother.”

Junpei paused before saying, “If Akane does.”

“He’s still working for them,” he pointed out.

“He’s doing it to survive, and he said other people need him,” Akane protested.

“But you offered to help him leave and he won’t go.”

“I’m sure it’s not that easy!” She wriggled but couldn’t escape his grip. “Seven!”

“You’re adults, I’ll leave it be if you tell me to, but I just want you two to know I’m here if this goes south.”

He said that the day they moved out, when Junpei still wasn’t talking to him beyond sighs or scoffs and Akane had sat awake the night before wondering if they were doing the right thing. “We know,” Junpei offered.

Tanaka released them and Junpei instantly felt like gravity had returned to normal. “Okay. Well, I’m headed back home.”

“What about my brother?”

“I have a few phone calls to make and things to wrap up before I can help out. You two wanted to be detectives all by yourselves, so figure it out,” he said, not unkindly. When they went back out, he said, “Right. Kurashiki, good to meet you. Take care, I’ll be back.”

Junpei watched Tanaka leave and felt a mixture of anxiety and disappointment. He would be fine on his own, and he had Akane, but right now felt like the worst possible time to split up.

“What’s his problem?” Aoi said.

“He wants to keep his charm points by staying mysterious,” Akane said. “But he’s a really good person. He took care of us for years.”

“Remind me to thank him.” Aoi flipped the coin he’d taken out and caught it with his other hand. He was distracted before saying, “Are you hungry?”

He took them downstairs to a hotel restaurant. Junpei made a joke about him being cheap and he snorted and said, “Everything on this menu is overpriced.” Surprisingly the supposed high roller had a taste for pedestrian beer and fried appetizers and carbs. “I never get to eat like this,” he explained, “Spend way too much time wining and dining at fancy places.”

“Do you still cook for yourself at all?” Akane said. She was picking at the edges of a single chicken wing and kept wiping off her fingers between each bite. Surely, Junpei thought, Aoi remembered that she liked to subsist off of sugar and more sugar.

“Sometimes. Usually I’m too tired when I get home from work.”

“Niichan made the best food,” Akane said to Junpei.

“I remember.” He heard about it every time he tried to cook for her. He took a long gulp of his beer, feeling he needed it.

Aoi took them to play on the casino floor, either being very persuasive or Junpei being very drunk. He took them to the Blackjack table and lost the same amount of money Junpei paid for two months’ rent. Junpei tried his hand at Baccarat like Tanaka had taught him to play once, and lost. Akane played Roulette and broke even, demonstrating something Junpei would call prescience of where the wheel would stop if he wasn’t determined to be contrary to Aoi’s supposed power.

If he was contrary, it did not exist, and none of them had been altered by Free the Soul.

They returned to the suite, the Kurashiki siblings’ arms around each other and Junpei trailing behind with a handful of stolen chips. They were colorful and in his drunken state there was nothing he wanted to do more than stack and re-stack them in different color-banded combinations. He proceeded to do so as the siblings kept talking on the couch.

“Niichan, what happened to the others?” Akane said. She was playing with the coin she’d stolen off of her brother, flipping it over and over and keeping it away from Aoi when he tried to take it back.

“Diana and I got separated from the others when they figured out we helped you two escape.” His jaw clenched. “They tried to get me to tell them where you’d gone, but I didn’t know, so I stayed in solitary. Diana convinced them to give me another chance to be a good boy, so I did, and I moved up through the ranks and left the others behind.

I don’t know what happened after that. I can only assume they got promoted too and let loose on the world like I was.”

Junpei frowned and slid the chips under his palm back and forth against the table. “Did you ever try to find them?”

“No. We’re not encouraged to fraternize outside of official business or services.”

“Do you still go to those?”

“Yes.”

“But they were so boring,” Junpei mumbled, and his head nodded forward and bumped into the table.

“Junpei!” Akane called, but he was already falling asleep. He was too heavy and his breathing was glacial.

His last thought was, ‘This isn’t alcohol.’

**

Junpei woke up wishing he was dead. His eyeballs throbbed, bile was permanently slicking his throat, and the lingering smell of vomit in the room told him he’d definitely thrown up somewhere in there the night before. He always hated when Akane had to clean up after him when he got too drunk; he didn’t do it often anymore except on the worst nights. When he remembered the night they were kidnapped off of that hill, right before she was supposed to move away. The night they were freed. Whenever he smelled bleach or had a texture like oatmeal in his mouth and remembered things he’d rather not.

He rolled over in bed, groping blindly for Akane and her comfort, but the bed was empty and cold. He groaned, rubbed his cheek against the pillow, and lay still for several minutes hoping the world would stop moving. His stomach disagreed with this plan and let him know if he didn’t find a restroom soon it would force him to puke across the sheets.

In the bathroom, his world narrowed to the toilet and the creeping dread he felt in between bouts of vomit. He had been this sick before, but not like this.

This was how he felt when he’d been accidentally poisoned with anesthesia by a careless nurse in the compound. He’d spent all the next day miserable in the infirmary and Aoi had sneaked in to see him once. Thinking of Aoi, he groaned again and remembered who had served him drinks all last night and how easy it would be to slip something into one if he wanted to.

He was still sluggish, but he dragged himself upright and wobbled on his feet towards the living room. He looked but saw he was alone in the whole suite. He had to get out of here; this was not a safe place to be if he’d been drugged, and Aoi was not the person they thought he was. Junpei only trusted one person there and she was gone, both her and her brother were. Had he taken Akane somewhere while Junpei was out?

Junpei swallowed, gagged into his elbow, and then did what he always did: He ran for Akane.

He paced as many halls as he could handle and braved the Hell of the casino floor with all of its lights and blaring music to find her. He wandered the parking lot like a drunk and finally sat on the curb and hung his head.

He didn’t know where to begin looking, he had no vehicle, and he had a sliver of hope that Akane hadn’t been kidnapped. He also knew who would help him and not let him lose that hope. He pulled his phone out and called Tanaka, who didn’t answer because Junpei’s luck was apparently that bad.

Rather than waste time, Junpei’s second call was to a cab company and someone picked him up within fifteen Akane-less minutes. His phone died on the way to Tanaka’s place, but he wouldn’t need it in a few minutes. The cab driver didn’t speak, for which Junpei was grateful. Junpei tried to curl up in a ball against the door, feeling his breathing quicken and like he was about to slip back to a state of mind where he’d be panicked and useless for Akane. He played with his wedding band and thought of her.

The walk from the sidewalk to Tanaka’s front door felt like he was covering an impossible distance. Tanaka’s car wasn’t in the driveway so Junpei used the key he’d never lost to let himself in. He’d be home soon and then they’d work together to bring Akane home.


	4. Chapter 4

Junpei tried to fight it, but he nodded off on the sofa in what used to be the office he shared with Tanaka. His dreams were a confusing mashup of rising waters, a cold facility, and near-death experience after near-death experience. He stirred several times but was unable to fully wake up and escape. When he did rouse, it was because someone was shaking him.

“Junpei, where’s Akane?” Tanaka said. He was standing over Junpei, close enough for Junpei to smell his aftershave. Aftershave? Tanaka didn’t wear anything that would announce his presence.

At Akane’s name, Junpei sat upright. “Akane’s gone. I think Aoi took her.”

“Well, calm down, did you call her?”

Junpei realized with embarrassment that he had not. Tanaka gave him his phone and when Junpei pulled up his recent calls because it was faster than searching his contacts, he found Tanaka’s last call was labeled ‘Diana.’ Junpei stowed this knowledge for later and called Akane.

The phone that she used for incoming calls rang and rang and eventually went to voicemail. He swallowed and his stomach flipped again and again. He called her again, and then once more before finally leaving her a message, “Call me, I want to go to the store today. Do you need anything?” It was their code for an emergency; if she could call, she would. Tanaka confirmed the battery was dead on her earpiece so they couldn’t even call her that way.

“When did you last see her?” Tanaka wasn’t revealing it, but he must have been nervous. He kept rolling a pencil between his wide palms.

“Last night, but I passed out and woke up this morning sick as a dog. Aoi must’ve drugged me.”

“You don’t know that they didn’t just step out for breakfast or something.”

“I do! You were right, I don’t trust him.” He couldn’t. Not if Aoi was still involved with Free the Soul, still cooperative. He must have been the final trick in their bag to get Junpei and Akane back. Or just Akane, if she was related to him maybe they thought she could replicate his alleged psychic tricks. She always did well on their tests.

Besides Akane and Tanaka, Junpei didn’t have a friend in the world. He swore it; he’d never trust Aoi again over this. And Diana worked for him, so no matter her intentions or what she needed from him, she was culpable.

Wait. Diana.

“Why did you call Diana?” he said suddenly. “Do you think she knows where he is?”

Tanaka stroked his chin. “I didn’t trust him either, and she seemed afraid of him. When she met up with me to take me to you two she was so nervous. She was angry when he shot her down, remember?” He nodded. “And I was right; she wouldn’t talk to me much but it’s obvious she doesn’t want anything to do with him, but for some reason she can’t leave.”

“Why don’t we go see her?”

**

Diana was not put up in a hotel as nice as Aoi’s; she was at a small one located off a side street, with a few cars in the lot and a broken vending machine (Junpei had tried to get water for his head, it still ached). She had admitted to Tanaka that her room number was on the second floor, almost like she wanted to be found.

Junpei leaned on the wall across from her room as Tanaka knocked on the door; the man could find a way to make even the simplest action loud and imposing. For the longest time the door didn’t open until he said, “Diana,” and then Junpei heard shuffling on the other side.

Diana opened the door a crack and said quietly, “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Are you being threatened?”

“I don’t know. But I’m not supposed to talk to you.”

“You did earlier,” Junpei pointed out. “Please, it’s about Akane. She’s missing.”

The door opened all the way and Diana had a hand over her mouth. “Again?”

Junpei wasn’t good at acknowledging his own emotions but he was good at analyzing others’. Diana was genuinely surprised, with her eyes wide with worry. “Yeah. Can you help us?”

She let them inside. Her room was orderly if spare and a half-packed suitcase was on one bed. They’d caught her just in time. “What happened?”

Junpei explained, and when he was done Diana’s face was hard and she sat down heavily. “Aoi… I didn’t think he’d take her back; the only thing I believe about him is that he really loves her.”

“What else does he tell you?” Tanaka asked. He sat on the other bed and it sagged under his weight. Junpei remained standing, his arms folded.

“Not much. Aoi and I have talked, but he’s private. Still…” Diana tugged on a pendant she was wearing, a bluebird in a cage. “He did me a big favor once. He’s still doing it, that’s why I shouldn’t talk.” She looked torn and then she closed her eyes, pensive, before saying, “I’m scared he’ll take it back if I tell you.”

“We’ll protect you,” Junpei said, not believing he could keep that promise but knowing if she thought he would that she was more likely to talk. “We can find someone to hide you if you’re scared of him.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Diana looked between the two of them before saying, “I needed to hide from somebody a year ago.” She swallowed. “After you two left, I was sent straight to nursing school, and I met someone there who was so kind. He helped me escape, and then he held it over my head after we got married.” She shook her head, like she couldn’t continue with that line of thought.

“He wasn’t very nice?”

“Not at all. But then Aoi came back into my life. He helped me leave and gave me a new place to live. He pays my bills through a surrogate so my ex can’t find me. And all he asked was I do him a favor. Be his assistant. He thought it was safer if I approached you first.” She gripped the birdcage. “And there’s one more thing. Do you remember Phi and Sigma?”

Vaguely. Junpei had been held with them back in the Free the Soul days. He remembered Phi as bossy and Sigma as a bit of a crybaby, to be honest. They were friends because of the situation they were in and Junpei had no idea what they’d be like today. He and Akane had made efforts to find the others before but never got anywhere. They always had to set it aside to look for Aoi, or work on a new case to pay the bills or network 

“Yeah,” Junpei said.

“I want him to help me find them.”

“Diana,” Junpei said softly. She was trapped, and she knew it. He felt pity for her, but there was a tiny ember burning within him still. “What do you think he’s going to ask you to do next time?”

“I don’t know! But I’ve tried for years and I can’t find them, and he’s still…”

“Was it worth it?”

“Junpei,” Tanaka warned, seeing Junpei was gearing up to interrogate her.

“Was it worth selling us out?”

“I didn’t know—”

“Who cares, that won’t bring Akane back.”

“I’ll call him! I’ll ask him to meet me.”

Junpei approached her and the words flew out of his mouth. “Why would you take the risk?”

“Junpei, stop it.” Tanaka pulled him away. “You’re not helping.”

Junpei tore himself free and slunk across the room, needing to clear his aching head. He wanted to throw up again and Akane was gone and—

_Junpei?_

Tanaka whirled him around. “Get it together,” he said. “You don’t have time for this.”

It occurred to Junpei that Tanaka never had to do this to Akane, and he felt ashamed. “Sorry.” He turned back to Diana and gave her a more sympathetic look. “You should come with us. Do you know where Aoi might have gone?”

“No, I’m sorry. He only calls me when he needs something and he never tells me what he’s doing.” She was a bird who didn’t know freedom was an option, even as Junpei was trying to show her the cage door was open. He knew he didn’t understand her world, as she didn’t understand his experiences after escaping, but he’d hoped she’d at least entertain the idea of leaving with them.

“Call me if you change your mind,” he said gently.

Diana gave him a fragile smile and stood up. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly between both of her own. “I’m really sorry.”

“I know.”

In the car, Junpei rested his head against the window. He was starting to feel better but now he was drained. His heart was trying to turn itself inside out.

“Don’t give up. Check my phone, maybe she called,” Tanaka said.

Junpei did, that sliver of hope still clinging to the surface of his mind. 

A miracle. There _was_ a call from Akane. She’d left a voicemail, asking Tanaka if he’d seen Junpei, and explained that she’d stepped out for a moment and was back at the Odyssey waiting for him. “Please let me know if he’s okay.”

“Holy—! Go back to the Odyssey, she’s okay!”

They pointed the car in that direction. Akane was safe and all was right with the world.

**

When Akane saw him, she gasped and ran to embrace him. “Junpei, where have you been?” She had a hint of panic in her voice, and kept talking. 

He rested his chin on her shoulder. “You disappeared.” Now that she was back in his arms he felt safe and sleepy.

“I went with niichan to pick up breakfast! You didn’t answer your phone!”

“It died.”

She continued to scold him but in a warm way, a wifely way. She held the back of his head and it didn’t hurt anymore. 

Behind her, Aoi coughed. “You ran away from home.”

Junpei sighed. “Well you didn’t leave a note.” He was out of it that morning and he doubted he would’ve paused long enough to read one. He gently pried Akane off of him and she patted his cheek.

“Do you really think I’d steal her away after I saved your life?” Aoi put his hands in his pockets and narrowed his eyes at Junpei.

“Well I don’t know you that well anymore, do I?” He couldn’t ask why he was holding something over Diana’s head without revealing that Diana had spoken to him and broke their contract. He had to think of a way to ask without betraying her confidence. When he was alone with Akane he’d ask her what she thought they should do.

“Niichan, Junpei—”

Aoi said, “If you want an attitude, go ahead, but do your job.”

Junpei bit back his response as he felt Akane squeezing his left hand. Looking down, he took her other hand only to notice something. “What happened to your ring?”

“Hm? It’s fine.”

It wasn’t. The purple stones had turned green, and the band was silver instead of gold. Had she lost the one he’d given her and scrambled to replace it? How did she do that? She was absent minded about chores, not her prized possession. “No, it’s supposed to match mine, see?” He held his hand up and got a surprise: his band was silver as well and the inscription on the inside was gone. “What the hell?”

“Junpei, do you feel okay? Did you hit your head too hard last night?”

“No, it’s not the way it was, I swear. I’m not going crazy.” He twisted the ring on his finger again and again, took it off, re-examined it, and still it didn’t turn back to normal. He was not going insane; it wasn’t the same ring, but why didn’t she believe him? Akane was the first to jump on the theories nobody else believed.

“It’s been a stressful morning, take a break,” Akane said, grabbing his arms and with all her strength forcibly guided him to sit down.

Tanaka considered him from the sidelines and Junpei wanted to appeal to his reason, but then again Tanaka had always been shifty when it came to his own paranormal beliefs. He would debate with Akane about ancient aliens but he enjoyed spitballing with her about mummies and mysterious behaviors of chemical compounds. Judging by the way Tanaka was looking at him, the ball was rolling in his head. What was he thinking?

Aoi, clearly annoyed by Junpei’s intransigence, put his foot down on further debate. “You, sleep off the hangover. Akane, come with me, I have a meeting.”

“No!” Junpei exclaimed. To Akane, he softened. “Let’s go together.”

“Okay,” she said, putting a familiar hand in his hair. “Okay.”

**

Aoi took them to a meeting he had to attend, telling them to wait in the lobby of an office building where a bored secretary scoped them out every few minutes. They did cut a funny picture, refusing to sit down and in rumpled clothes, Junpei clearly sick and wiped out and Akane fiddling with her earpiece, complaining it had stopped working. Thank God the secretary couldn’t see the guns.

Tanaka had followed behind them as he couldn’t fit into Aoi’s surprising and boring sedan. Junpei didn’t remember Tanaka driving a Ford, but at least he could sit in it. He was in the parking lot so as not to draw (more) attention.

“About Diana,” Junpei started, “Your brother is holding her hostage.”

“Niichan…” Akane didn’t finish the thought. She was tightly coiled, holding things inside of her in a way she didn’t do with him. “I don’t want to believe he would do that,” she settled on. “He’s warming up; he was really sweet this morning.”

“Well, it is you,” Junpei said.

“How do you know? Did you talk to Diana?”

He filled her in on his and Tanaka’s excursion when they thought Akane was missing. How Diana was cagey but seemed fearful and anxious, and refused to leave Aoi though Junpei could tell she didn’t like depending on him.

Akane considered what he’d said before adding, “Maybe it’s possible.” Akane was very careful to think everything through before she said something. Her arguments were never uninformed and Junpei could tell he needed even more evidence to convince her to really suspect her brother. She might have been disappointed by meeting him, but she could never stop loving him and wanting to trust in him.

Why did Junpei have to be the one to ask her to do that?

Aoi stalked out of the meeting room, looking frustrated. “Let’s go.” He didn’t hint as to why he was angry until they were in the car. “Fucking bullshit,” he muttered, losing his composure and for a moment Junpei saw the mouthy, temperamental teenager Aoi had been. “I’ve been working on this client for months and they take them out from under me—” He continued to rant under his breath until they were halfway to their destination. Junpei was too fascinated and amused to stop him as he ignored Akane’s questions and curiosity. “They know I’m good! How can they fucking—”

“Niichan,” Akane said firmly. “Explain.”

“Do you always throw a tantrum when you don’t get your way?” Junpei added and Akane hissed under her breath at him. Junpei didn’t care. He wanted to push; one of the easiest ways to get information was to find someone at a vulnerable moment.

“Shut up, this affects you too. This was supposed to be my way back into some good graces. It’s the other reason I’m hiding.”

“What did you do?” Akane asked.

“Nothing important, just pissed off my boss and without closing this, now he’s going to be more pissed off.”

“Niichan, you have to tell us the truth.”

“It’s like I said, the less you know the better.”

The ride back to the hotel was quiet. Akane was chewing over the conversation and Junpei was falling asleep again.

Aoi got a phone call as they were pulling into the parking lot and he waved at them to go inside as he answered it. Junpei lingered by pretending to tie his shoe and overheard, “Diana, calm down,” but then Akane called to him and he had to go.

“Let’s use this time to look through his things,” Akane said, and Junpei remembered why he loved her. 

Aoi’s personal effects were unremarkable, a lot of designer suit pieces and skincare items. He’d packed like he intended to stay for a long time, up to a month if he had to, judging by the carefully folded socks piled up in his suitcase. Junpei felt a silk tie and wondered if it cost more than their rent.

Akane held up a switchblade she’d pulled from a nightstand drawer. “I wonder if he’s ever had to use it,” she said. She had slipped into Detective Mode and was dispassionately appraising everything they found. 

Aoi kept a pen and paper planner by his laptop. Inside was an explosion of dates and times, meetings that were penciled in on top of each other, notes about market trends, and then notes about Akane and Junpei. He had been watching them for some time. He’d debated with himself about sending Akane a present for her birthday, for last Christmas. He’d sketched her and was a competent artist.

They put his things back into place, practiced from years of searching through things they shouldn’t be (including Tanaka’s secret baseball card collection), and were sitting in the living room in time for Aoi to return.

“What did I miss?” he said.

“Nothing,” Akane replied. “Junpei still has a headache but he won’t go to a doctor.” She looked to Junpei. “Go lay down.”

Knowing a hint when he saw one, Junpei went to their bedroom. Somehow the room was uglier to him than before when he woke up with a headache that could kill a man. It was as fake as Aoi’s hospitality.

He heard Akane and her brother chat for a bit and then Akane came in to ‘check on Junpei.’ She sat on the bed beside him, leaned over, and whispered into his ear, “We’re leaving tonight.”

“All three of us?”

“Yes.”

“Where are we going? What about Tanaka?” The man had returned to his home instead of following them; Junpei suspected it was a cover as Tanaka was ever-restless and hated to be home alone and not working.

“He can’t come. Niichan agreed to take us to a Free the Soul meeting.”

“It could be a trap.”

“I know, but you’ll be there,” she said and smiled at him before kissing his forehead. “And we need to go undercover and meet his enemy.”

“Sounds easy,” Junpei said.

Akane laughed under her breath, in disbelief at their situation or amusement at his sarcasm, and when she put a hand on his cheek her fake wedding ring was cold as ice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I have no idea where all my energy has come from.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWs for physical/mental abuse, PTSD, and non-consensual drug use.

“I’m not fine with this,” Junpei said. Going straight to Free the Soul wasn’t his idea of a good time. He was still mulling over what had happened; if he’d simply been drunk or drugged. His symptoms suggested the latter but he didn’t have proof and accusing her brother wouldn’t win Akane over.

Worse, they were headed right into a Free the Soul den. They had sneaked in and out of meetings before, so the actual mechanics weren’t foreign, but they always had guns and disguises and an escape route. Aoi was their ride and their sponsor for the evening; they were going to be new initiates, curious and eager to please. 

“I know,” Akane said. She had donned a robe already and it looked so familiar and so wrong on her. Back then she’d been too small for one and always drowned in the fabric. Now the Eye of Horus was perfectly smooth over her breastbone. “But we’ll be fine. We’re going to get information.”

“We always do,” he agreed. Watching her put in her newly-charged earpiece, he tried to feel confident in her, which he always did when he couldn’t believe in himself. “Hey Akane? Do you trust him?”

“I want to,” she admitted. She took his hand and kissed his cheek. “But I trust you.”

“Me too. That’s why I have to tell you something: I think your brother drugged me last night.”

Akane swallowed. “Are you sure? You drank a lot—”

“You’ve never seen me like that and you know it. I was out of it and felt like I did when they’d drug us back there.” It was common enough; they would feed them what Tanaka explained later were psychotropic drugs meant to stimulate their ‘esper abilities.’ Mostly they just made Junpei afraid of invisible monsters and then sleepy when they wore off and so did the hypervigilance.

She shook her head. Her eyes said that she was balanced on the precipice of believing him. “Why would he do it?”

“I don’t know, but we can’t put all our faith in him.”

She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again to say, “I’ll believe you. That it happened. But I can’t leave him until I know what’s really going on.”

He wanted to run like a rabbit but she was there, standing in the unsprung snare trap, so he couldn’t leave her. He reminded himself they’d promised to stay together forever; his wedding ring dug into his finger.

“We’ll be extra careful,” she said. “He hasn’t tried to hurt me.”

‘Yet,’ Junpei thought.

There came a knock on the door. “We’re gonna be late, guys.”

Junpei followed Akane’s lead, trying to look unaffected.

**

Aoi drove them out into the desert and Junpei’s stomach did a flip when he saw a concrete compound in the sand. It was too much like where he’d been held years ago, down to the tall barbed wire fence surrounding an asphalt lot. It was so wrong to be back, like he was twelve again and tired from crying on the bus ride there

“Don’t worry,” Aoi said, “They’re all low- to mid-level members who won’t recognize you two. Keep your hoods up, that’s normal, and we’ll be fine. Just act like you care, and don’t drink this wine they’ll try to give you, it’ll mess up your head.”

They had to be buzzed in, and once out of the car Aoi had to show his little coin again and introduce them as his sponsored guests for the night.

Inside, it looked just like the old compound, with the linoleum floors and white block walls and the smell of must mingling with antiseptic. Junpei wanted to throw up and judging by how rigid Akane was beside him she wasn’t coping with it either. He held her hand but she shook it loose and he remembered how physical touch had been discouraged back there, yet it never stopped them from trying to sneak high-fives.

They were led back to a chapel, the same kind he remembered mouthing words to litanies back in the day, and Aoi began making his rounds. Junpei and Akane trailed him like ducklings, listening to him talk about what he’d been up to, asking thoughtful questions that suggested he knew everyone there intimately, and encouraging someone who expressed interest in joining his branch of the cult’s operations.

Junpei watched and noted who seemed happy to see him, who was neutral, and who was cold; Aoi was careful to introduce these people by name and rank and Junpei tried to commit it to memory. Akane would if he couldn’t.

Finally, the only person who hadn’t spoken to Aoi approached them and said, “Aoi,” with an expression that suggested he knew exactly how he was butchering the name and didn’t care to correct himself.

Aoi didn’t react, his demeanor cool and crisp as they spoke. “How’s your new job?” he said pointedly.

The man, very pale, couldn’t help but flush and said, “Excellent. I hear you’re improving at my old one.”

Aoi raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, it’s not that hard once you apply yourself.”

The man pursed his lips, resembling a blowfish for a moment, before breathing out and saying, “Is this the example you want to set for your guests?” He nodded to Junpei, who raised a hand, and Akane.

“Clearly the higher ups don’t have a problem with my conduct,” Aoi said and turned, ushering them to leave with him. “Asshole,” he mumbled.

“What a nice man,” Akane said.

Junpei for his part wanted to throw up again though his stomach cramped and complained that he hadn’t eaten in so long. The scent of incense was heavier than fog and it brought him back to a place in his memories he tried to hide. He wanted to run away to get fresh air but he couldn’t lose his way now. He wanted to hold on to Akane and not let go. He wanted to be held.

Looking to his right, Akane’s face was stony beneath her hood and she appraised everyone with the same disdain. Only when her eyes met his did she soften.

Someone clapped their hands, a bell rang out, and everyone circled up. Aoi to his left and Akane to his right, Junpei couldn’t escape even if he wanted to. He was cold. People looked at him and maybe he was imagining their suspicion, maybe not.

The wine came out first, and Junpei watched a chalice pass around the circle, wondering how he’d avoid this. When it came to Akane, she held it to her lips but appeared to take a quick sip and let the liquid slide down her chin, wiping her skin off with her palm and looking apologetic at the disapproving glances.

When Junpei tried to copy her, someone murmured that he wasn’t participating and he panicked, pouring some in and swallowing reflexively. Well shit.

Aoi shot him a look but then pretended to sip himself with practiced motions.

The wine began kicking in sometime around the second litany; it hit fast and with a warm rush of blood throughout his body. He wavered on his feet and bumped into Aoi, who elbowed him. He mouthed the words until his mouth became mush and he was sweating all over, yet freezing at the same time. 

Junpei’s vision wavered and when he heard someone begin to chant, he couldn’t take it anymore. He retreated inside his mind, hearing roaring white noise instead of the words to protect himself. He couldn’t stop remembering the feel of the robes smothering him on that first night, choking on smoke, the feel of someone cutting his palm with a blade to show that the flesh was impermanent and pain temporary, saying that someday he wouldn’t need a body so don’t he dare cry.

His eyes swam but he couldn’t cry now like he did back then. He fell to his knees instead, feeling the impact ripple through him, and then someone was standing in front of him saying to get up right now. Hands grabbed his face and pulled it up to look at them and he met pale eyes. He moaned and Aoi hushed him, and the next Junpei blinked, Aoi was melting in his vision.

Junpei perceived his mind opening up like a flower, and Aoi’s flowed into him.

**

Aoi couldn’t stop playing with the coin in his pocket as his superior talked.

“You know we expected great things from you when you were promoted.”

Aoi held his breath. He was afraid this day would come and if he had to get down on his knees and plead that he could be useful he would. The way one survived was by playing the game, and he’d debased himself often over the years just to buy one more day. One more day became a second day became many days, and soon he’d earned the respect of some powerful people and delivered himself from evil. From kid in a cell to stockbroker in an office with windows.

He should’ve known it wouldn’t last; internal politics were vicious here and somebody must be trying to step on him to get to the top.

“And you’ve delivered. Congratulations. We’re promoting you to Ramsey’s current role.”

Aoi’s eyes widened and his hands clenched in his pockets. If they didn’t hate each other before, Ramsey would be out for his blood now, but fuck him, Aoi had earned this and Ramsey didn’t try hard enough to keep it.

“Answer me.”

“Yes, y-yes, I… Thank you so, so much, I won’t let you down.”

**

Aoi inhaled the smell of blood in the hotel room and knew with dread that this was meant for him.

**

Akane was alive and he cried like a baby when he found out, head in his hands and shaking, giving himself a headache from years of unshed tears. She was Hanaoka Ruri now, but her face, though grown, was unmistakable. 

He couldn’t leave her alone a minute longer, but he had to plan his next moves carefully so as to avoid endangering her. So Aoi did what he did best: he began to plan.

**

“So you get what I’m asking,” he told Diana as he slid the paper across the table to her. It was Tanaka’s dossier, including his contact information, and as Aoi explained what her role was, she shook her head.

“It’s too dangerous for them, not unless you’re going to leave Free--”

“I’ve decided it’s not, so help me,” he said. This was no argument, it was an order and he needed her to comply.

“You don’t know that!” 

“And you know where we stand.”

Diana’s hands curled into fists on the tabletop.

**

Akane was so beautiful it was unbelievable. 

**

It was easiest if Junpei remembered first, and Aoi knew from experience that the little packet of powder in his pocket would help. He knew; he was forcefed it for years until he gave them what they wanted. 

Aoi paused before tearing it open and stirring a pinch of it into Junpei’s drink, but it would work out in the end. Once he remembered how to use the morphic fieldset, everything Aoi was trying to do would make sense.

**

Junpei surfaced from the dark water like a corpse floating to the top: quickly and surprising the people who saw it. He couldn’t open his eyes until he heard Akane say his name. His memories of what he saw while in Aoi’s head—and how he knew this, he felt it running through his veins—were fresh and he wanted to sit up and have enough strength to strangle Aoi.

Aoi was the cult’s victim too; he should’ve known how it felt and he shouldn’t want to hurt another person like he was hurt. But Aoi apparently didn’t care so Junpei had to get as far away from him as possible.

“...is so lucky they thought he was just overwhelmed,” he heard Aoi say, and his voice was poison to Junpei.

Junpei opened his eyes and saw the passenger seat of the car in front of him, and in his peripheral vision the desert at night. They were on their way home and it didn’t comfort him.

“Junpei,” Akane said and took hold of his hand. She was sitting beside him and had a worried look on her face. “Are you okay?”

“No,” he mumbled. “Aoi hurt me.”

Aoi said, “He’s still hallucinating.”

“I saw you put it in my drink,” he croaked. “Akane, he hurt me,” he pleaded, reason giving way to childlike fear.

“Shh, shh, don’t go back in your head, stay with me,” Akane urged, and he shook his head.

“You aren’t listening,” he said and felt like he could break.

He continued his attempts to convince her back at the Odyssey, getting more frantic as he tried to grow more lucid, and finally she put a hand on his shoulder and whispered, “I’ve got you.” To her brother, she said, “Niichan, I know about the drugs, so don’t bother lying.”

Aoi was dumbstruck and tried to deny it, but she stopped him.

“I found them in your things. It’s the same as the ones they used to give us back there, isn’t it? It wouldn’t be hard for you to get a hold of it and Junpei is acting just like he did that night. It’s mixed into the wine for their rituals.”

“Akane, I swear to you, I didn’t—”

“Niichan, stop.” She put her arms around Junpei as she must’ve felt him shaking. “I’m taking Junpei home.”

Aoi continued to beg her not to leave, following her around the suite until she covered her ears and said, “Stop!” in a high voice. She was crying and muttering repeatedly for him to stop until his arms fell to his sides and he quietly said he would call them a car.

“Please,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. It’s part of something bigger than that, I’ll tell you—”

“I can’t do this, niichan,” Akane said in a broken voice. “Let’s go home, Junpei.”

**

Akane held him all night in their bed, the right bed that they belonged in even though it sagged in the middle. When his ears rang or his head spun she was there, whispering to him, and he didn’t fall asleep until morning. He dreamt of the past, but not his past—he was a detective back then too but Akane was gone and he couldn’t find her. She didn’t want to be found, and he was so sad. When he woke he was choked up.

He crawled out of bed at three, smelling food, and Akane had ordered Thai because she couldn’t cook. He was wobbly and aching but alive. He was also embarrassed at all the sniffling he’d done last night, but it would pass. He was safe again.

“I’m sorry about Aoi.”

She stirred her noodles. Akane, ever a picky eater, would eat three bites of it and then dig brownie mix out of the cupboard, he thought. “You didn’t do anything, and besides, it went well.”

“What?”

Akane dug into her pocket and retrieved a small paper packet. “I knew he’d drugged you that night, and I wanted to catch him in the act instead of showing my hand early.”

“So you were going to wait for him to drug me again?!”

“No. I thought he would come for me next. I’m so sorry, Junpei.”

“Why do you think he did it?”

“Because he wanted to trigger our esper powers again. Do you remember that that was our purpose for Free the Soul?” They had spent years piecing it together from memories and the files Tanaka helped them gather. It would still never make sense to Junpei why they had to ruin kids’ lives to get to their truth.

“I’ve tried to forget.”

“Niichan didn’t; he can use them. And he wanted us to join him. I don’t think he wants to bring us back exactly, but he’s very invested in us using our powers again.”

“So what do we do? We’ve gotta cut ties with him.”

Akane put her chopsticks down and tented her fingers, leaning towards Junpei. “I’m interested in what he wants. I won’t stop you from leaving, but I need to rest and then I’ll talk to him again when I’ve spoken to Tanaka and looked through our files.”

“Akane, it’ll put you in danger!”

“Our life is already dangerous,” she said gently. “I won’t blame you for leaving.”

“I won’t! I just don’t understand.”

“Because I can’t stop wondering what would’ve happened if we never left! Who would we be? What could we _do_? I have to know and my brother can take me there.” Akane’s eyes were shining with curiosity and determination. “We’ve wandered in the dark long enough.”

Junpei knew his fate. He knew there was no fighting this. He swallowed and said, “Okay. I’ll follow you. But one thing.”

“What?”

“Why storm out tonight?”

“I wanted to get you alone and I was sure he had that whole suite bugged.” She took him in with that same curious expression before saying, “Are you sure my wedding ring is wrong?”

“Yeah. It’s supposed to be gold with purple stones. I’m sure I remember it right.”

Akane held her hand up and considered the ring. “Maybe it is in another history. There’s one where you bought me that ring instead of this one, and maybe you’re remembering that history.”

“Do you really believe that?” 

Akane went through a phase where SHIFTing was all she would talk about; she’d always wondered if that was Free the Soul’s ultimate goal with them. The ability to change history would be monumental; their influence would know no bounds. It was terrifying as it was thought-provoking. Some nights he stayed awake humoring Akane and getting drawn into their debates about how history would’ve changed if this or that conflict had ended differently, if a senator missed his flight, if Elvis had really made contact with aliens.

“You know I do.” She picked her chopsticks back up and lifted some noodles to her mouth, slurping them before saying, “I think that’s what you’re experiencing—visions of another world.”

“You do know how to keep a marriage interesting,” Junpei said and stuffed food into his mouth.


	6. Chapter 6

Junpei sighed as Akane stroked his hair. His head was on her lap, using it as a pillow, and he was feeling flushed and hazy from an entire evening of her attention. She hadn’t talked about work, espers, and Aoi, letting Junpei rest and reset. They’d watched the black and white movies Tanaka always used to make them watch on movie night, back when they were more of a team. They still were a team, he thought, and then realized he had no idea if Tanaka was okay. What if Aoi had gotten to him?

“Call Tanaka,” he mumbled into Akane’s knee. As she did, Junpei thought about what they’d do if Tanaka was missing, if Aoi had taken revenge on them. Tanaka had always drilled the location of their safehouse into their heads, from the first night they met, and Junpei could recite the address backwards at this point. He didn’t want to run there without Tanaka.

“Just come over,” Tanaka said once he got an earful of their predicament. He didn’t need to ask questions, he didn’t need to be convinced; the answer would always be ‘yes, come over, I’m here.’

Akane drove; Junpei didn’t trust himself to do it just then, and was tired of feeling so weak but he couldn’t help it. She had a jerky way of braking and accelerating, stop-start stop-start, even in the middle of the night on an empty street, and it didn’t help his lingering nausea. He wanted the familiarity of Tanaka, of being given hot coffee and clumsy, well-meaning sandwiches and sitting down to watch TV instead of talking. When he was growing up with Tanaka every day had been exciting, even the mundane ones, and Junpei felt safe even in the worst situations.

Tanaka’s presence was like a favorite blanket. Junpei wrapped himself in the feeling as he stood in the tiny living room. It was more of a nook set off to the side of the office, and a long time ago they’d managed to cram a pullout couch into one side and a TV on the other. Tanaka had an honest to God DVD player and a stack of films. He picked none of them and instead put on a sports game while they talked. The blue shadows cast on Akane’s face made her look grave. 

They told him about their eventful night and he listened with growing surprise and then dread. By the time they got to their agreement to keep following Aoi, he stopped them. “You’re going to do what?”

“Akane said.” Junpei tried to turn away from Akane when she went to pinch his ribs. He missed his motorcycle jacket which he’d left back at home, as it was thick enough to keep her from doing that.

Akane leaned forward, her hands pinned between her knees. She looked up at Tanaka with sharp, earnest eyes. “Seven, I have to know what he’s trying to do. And maybe what niichan knows can help us find Free the Soul’s HQ.”

“We’re about to crack that ourselves!”

“You’ll barely let us help,” Junpei pointed out. It was yet another point of contention between them, and he was sore about it.

“You _left_ ,” Tanaka said. He rarely brought it up, saying it was their choice and they were adults, but right now the hurt was obvious. When he called them he always had a bossy tone, like a parent who couldn’t help but worry about their children. He didn’t have to say more.

“I looked for him for years,” Akane said. “I’m not about to stop now. Niichan still needs our help and I can’t confront him about what he did if I turn back now.” Aoi was a mystery she was determined to solve.

Tanaka thought about her words, and then said, “What if we brought in Diana?”

“What about her?” Junpei perked up. Diana hadn’t flitted through his head recently, muddled as it was, but the memory of her sitting alone on that hotel bed, looking like she had a core of iron despite her timid expression, got his attention. She had clearly been about to leave when he and Tanaka had visited her; Junpei hoped she’d gotten away, and nobody would be able to find her. Not Aoi, not that awful man who haunted her, and not even Junpei.

“I’ve been working on her. After Junpei and I met up with her, she called me and I’ve been trying to convince her to come to us. I think she’s almost ready.”

Junpei folded his arms. “Let me talk to her.”

“I’ll come with you,” Akane said.

Tanaka said. “No, you two have business with Kurashiki. I’ve got this.” He sighed like the wind rushing through a thick wall of trees. “Are you serious about following him?”

“Not following him, but working for him,” Akane clarified. She held up a finger. “He still needs our help if someone really is trying to kill him. I can’t let him die, no matter what he is now.”

“Just don’t go somewhere where I can’t follow you two,” Tanaka said quietly. “Who wants to play cards?”

He got his deck out, worn at the edges and the pictures fading as it was a deck old as their friendship, something Tanaka bought them at a dollar store in a roadside shopping plaza because he was tired of them complaining that they were bored on the road. When they were seventeen, Akane said that Junpei had to kiss her if he lost a game, and he lost on purpose.

Tanaka shuffled the deck and they sat around his desk and played Old Maid. The current situation was forgotten as they shifted back into old habits, like they still lived together: Akane tried to cheat, Junpei accused her of it, and Tanaka took her side anyway; they turned on the radio; Junpei realized he hadn’t eaten enough earlier and suggested they order sandwiches.

Over rye bread and sauerkraut, Akane talked about their caseload and Tanaka asked the two of them probing questions, disguising the genuine advice he’d like to give them about work. Tanaka never just gave them an answer; he said the answer was only worth something if they learned it themselves, but he never let them walk into the dark unprepared either. Even when he wasn’t there, his presence was felt. He was the little voice in their heads when something was shady; he was the muscle memory when they had to run or fight.

Akane started to nod off on the sofa so Junpei pulled it out and lay down bracketing her, giving Tanaka a subtle dismissal. Akane fell asleep quickly and Junpei played with her hair as she dozed. He couldn’t sleep so he watched her.

Her phone had been lighting up since they arrived; she had resisted looking at it, but Junpei got up and looked at the latest vibrating call: Unknown Number, likely Aoi. He must’ve been desperate if he was risking calling her on an unsecured line. Junpei wondered if he genuinely felt bad, or if it was because his sister had called him out and he’d lost control of the situation.

Junpei didn’t think he could face him; the thought made his throat tighten up. He only remembered how helpless he’d felt the night before, mired in Free the Soul and alcohol and that drug, and only felt a tiny bit of comfort remembering Akane would be with him the whole time. Akane had protected him by leaving her own brother.

The ring didn’t matter; she was his wife no matter what she wore, and she was here with him. If her proposed theory was right, those dreamlike images of other Akanes might be real possibilities, and the thought of any Akane who didn’t want to be with him was agonizing. 

He lay back down and put an arm over her, cuddling as close to her as possible. She breathed deep and slow beneath him and he promised her she would always have his support.

**

Tanaka still had all of their old things: toothbrushes, seasonal clothes they didn’t need in Nevada’s climate, books Akane never finished, and little half-full bottles of hotel soap and shampoo. He never forgot anything about them, Junpei realized. It was the house of an empty nester, though Tanaka always said he was glad to finally have the space.

Junpei and Akane were both in the bathroom, Junpei undressing and Akane brushing her teeth. They were in the middle of an old debate, debating being something they did more than mention the state of the weather, discuss what they wanted for dinner, or have sex. 

“That’s sophistry,” he said as he slid his jeans down his legs.

“No it isn’t,” she said back in a singsong tone.

He had no desire to debate naked, but sometimes that led to interesting gains, he figured. But then he remembered, with great disappointment, that Tanaka was still in the house. Boo, no exciting events for Junpei until they were back in their apartment, which wouldn’t happen for longer still as they were meeting with Aoi that day while Tanaka tried to track Diana down. 

Diana was still on Junpei’s brain; he hoped she was okay. Diana had checked out of her hotel room, but a source Tanaka paid to stakeout her hotel claimed that she hadn’t gone far. Junpei asked Tanaka to drive down and talk to her since he was both excellent at getting people to open up to him and had built a rapport with Diana. 

Junpei showered, Akane joined him in said shower and washed his hair, and when they got out they dressed in some spare clothes they kept at his house for unexpected sleepovers. When they went out there were bowls of white rice with raw egg stirred into them, Akane’s bowl buried under salty toppings while Junpei’s was plain because he only wanted to taste the silky, rich texture of the egg. They sat down at the old table for the first time in a long time and ate without needing to speak.

When they were done, Akane dug up everything they had so far in relation to Free the Soul. She buried the table under papers, notebooks, maps, photographs, and USB drives scattered throughout like tiny bugs. She gave the bits she hated doing—comparing coordinates on the maps with witness testimony as to the locations of Free the Soul hideouts; watching and rewatching surveillance tapes of long, boring nights—to Junpei and tried to do the same with Tanaka also but he just grumbled and took a book from her. They disregarded the research they’d done on Aoi’s whereabouts; it was all wrong anyway, they knew now.

They dedicated the next few hours to studying their materials. Junpei liked working with them. He felt everyone falling into their groove and was reminded of the earlier years of this. Back then, Akane would be at his left, taking notes and talking to herself under her breath, and Tanaka would be at his right, hunt-and-pecking on his keyboard 

Tanaka had been doing his research on Diana; maybe that was his secret project from earlier. Junpei looked at the information Tanaka had been able to find out about her, wanting to know more about her life. 

She’d lived under a fake name herself, starting in nursing school which she attended at a technical college. She’d unexpectedly left her first job with no resignation letter, according to the transcript of a phone call Tanaka had bluffed his way into with the hospital’s HR department. She, of course, had no record of high school graduation. She had a marriage license, and then a divorce decree. Her pictures showed a normal young woman, determined to be kind and happy, and nobody would know what she’d survived if she didn’t say.

Junpei gathered up her materials into a folder before asking the others, “What did you find?”

“Judging by what niichan told me, he’s operating out of one of their California shell businesses,” Akane said. “I wish I knew if that could be trusted.” 

“Probably—I saw him get promoted.”

“You did? What else did you see?”

Junpei described all of Aoi’s memories that he’d seen, feeling a bit sick when he did as it reminded him of what happened two nights ago. It had been so...intimate yet otherworldly. He hadn’t learned much, but he’d been tangled up in Aoi’s brain, his feelings, cried with him over Akane and feared for his life. 

Akane raised an eyebrow and smiled. “And that doesn’t convince you that our power is real?”

“Akane,” he warned, not willing to talk about it anymore.

“No, tell me more Junpei. How did you feel? Was it like when we tried to do it when we were children? Did you have to try to do it or did it just happen—”

“Akane, please,” Tanaka tried. “Let him breathe. We can go over this when Junpei’s ready.”

“I’m not fragile,” Junpei said. “It was like he let me in. My brain was liquid and he was a container. We were communicating through images and memories and sensations.”

“So, you used the morphogenetic field.”

“I guess so.”

Akane was bright and ecstatic. She looked at Junpei like he was a rare, fascinating result of an experiment, much longed for. “That’s fascinating! We have to try it. We’re married, why wouldn’t we be able to resonate?” Akane retrieved the drugs from her pocket and Junpei strongly shook his head.

“No. Not that. We’ll practice with the other methods.”

“But that will take forever,” she protested.

Tanaka, who had been watching this play out with a mix of curiosity and resignation on his face, said, “Enough, guys. Akane, give it a shot.”

Akane clearly fought not to roll her eyes at him. She could get away with it. “Another time.”

Looking at the clock, Junpei started. “We’re running late.”

**

Tacky and loud, the Odyssey still gave Junpei a headache as they pulled up to it. Their car sputtered and he cursed at it. Akane tapped her foot.

“He left messages. He sounds sorry, but who knows,” she said, sounding hesitant and defeated.

Going up in the elevator, they held hands and watched the floor numbers tick by. For a moment, Junpei saw an antique grate in his mind’s eye, an older elevator with rounded, grand doors and a lever, but when he opened his eyes it was gone. They used their room key to get in and the door clicked open, beckoning them.

Inside, Aoi was waiting for them on the couch. He was in street clothes; Junpei didn’t know how often he got to wear them. They were neutral tones and stylishly ripped, gloves on his hands and an ear cuff on. His arms were spread over the back of the couch and he looked at them with a measuring gaze.

“Hi.”

“Hello,” Akane said. She didn’t move to be near him. “Are you going to apologize first or should we wait?”

“You’re so much ruder than the kid I remember,” he said. He looked at her like he was expecting that kid to appear. He looked at her like she had died and come back to life just for him, and he was blowing his second chance with her. “I’m sorry, I should’ve been honest with you.”

“You should’ve been,” Junpei added, and both siblings looked at him as if surprised he was there. “So what about drugging me?”

“That, I had a reason for. I wanted to see if it would activate your ability and didn’t want to test it on Akane.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“I needed to see if it was possible for you to Transmit because I need a Transmitter. Didn’t get anything out of it.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

“So why do you need espers, niichan? Aren’t you one?”

“Not like you.” His voice lowered. “You were always special. I found your old experiment files, y’know. You were far and away the most impressive, the one who can Transmit and Receive. Nothing in the world can hide from you if you want to find it.”

Junpei could’ve told him that one—that Akane was special.

Aoi said, “I need your help.” His eyes were serious, not the affected, mask-like seriousness he’d worn as armor against them, but that of a man who knew he was down to his last strike.

“Do you want to leave Free the Soul?” Akane sounded hopeful and Junpei didn’t want that hope dashed by what Aoi said next.

“That isn’t an easy question to answer. What I need is someone to help me stop a plot within my group. I need an esper who can see all the branches of time, so they can help me find the answer. I looked and looked, and I think that’s Akane.” He looked to Junpei. “You can come if you want.”

“Hell yes I do.”

“Good.”

“I will if you promise to only tell me the truth from now on,” Akane said sternly. She wasn’t about to fight, she wouldn’t take no for an answer, and she would extract the truth from him at any cost; Junpei knew her and he knew she would do all of this if Aoi pushed her.

“Akane,” Aoi said. He jumped up off of the couch, came to her, and took her hand. In one fluid motion he got down on one knee and said in reverent tones, “I promise I’ll only tell you the truth from now on.”

Akane sucked in her bottom lip, and then Aoi winced as she must’ve been squeezing his hand back too tightly. Her eyes were wet-looking and vulnerable. “You better.” She pulled Aoi to his feet and when he stood they looked only at each other. He wiped her cheek and patted the top of her head like she was little again.

“Right,” he said, and like that the confidence was back. “Let’s get to work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read this far, let me know what you think! :D


	7. Chapter 7

Junpei was itchy. He was sure he kept visibly twitching: his hand for his phone in case Tanaka called, his feet in case he had to run, his head to clear it out. The Kurashikis didn’t notice, but Junpei knew he was obvious.

Working with Aoi instead of in spite of him was proving fruitful so far; they had chatted and Aoi showed them more information about his schedule, what he did for work, and who knew him in his group. So far this Ramsey was still the most likely suspect for who was conspiring to kill Aoi, given that they still had to work closely together and knew the same people. 

“Is it common to kill people you don’t like in Free the Soul?” Junpei was pretty sure he’d been disliked as a kid, the dud, the one who couldn’t ever get the tests right; thank God nobody had tried to kill him. They’d done everything but.

“It’s not personal, it’s politics. At least where I’m from. There, you advance by attracting the right people, and getting rid of people in your way is one way to do that.” Aoi was unaffected by what he said, like it was the truth.

“Is that what that coin is?” Akane asked. She was hanging on to his words, but still maintained a guarded edge to her questions and responses that Junpei admired; it was another reminder how astute she was, and how inspiring to him.

“Yeah. A sign that some people high up really like me because I can make a lot of money.”

“Wish I could buy my friends,” Junpei said.

“Some friends,” Akane said. “They want to kill him.”

“Oh. Right.”

“What did you find out, niichan?”

“I was, perhaps, looking around my boss’ office and noticed he had a funding proposal on his desk to revamp the facility we grew up in. And there were profiles of kids. They’re going to kidnap a new round.”

Akane leaned forward in her seat, hands over her knee. “And they know you know?”

“Pretty sure, dead body and all.”

“Come home with us, niichan.”

Aoi blinked. “Okay.”

**

Aoi looked around their apartment. “Well this is a dump.”

Maybe it was simple, Junpei thought, but… No, he was right, it was a dump. They owned several small used pieces of furniture with no design sense, despite Akane’s attempts to decorate with fake flowers, cute patterned cloth draped over items, and pictures of historical objects and rabbits.

“Be polite, you’re a guest,” Akane said sweetly as she dug in the fridge. “Are you hungry, niichan?”

Aoi peered around the doorframe at her and tweaked her upper arm. They looked like any pair of siblings Junpei could see.“You mean you’re hungry and I’m supposed to cook.”

“Yes.”

Aoi sighed and shook his head but joined her at the fridge. “Geez, do you two know what a vegetable is?” He muttered to himself as he rifled through their food, retrieving leftover rice, Spam, soy sauce, eggs that were probably still good, and a leek that hadn’t yet turned slimy and wilted. He retrieved their one dull knife, grumbled about the safety hazard, and then began washing and chopping the leek, slicing Spam, and cracking eggs. “You get fried rice and you’ll like it. Even though there’s no carrots or garlic here...”

Junpei tried to defend their poor homemaking skills with, “We work a lot.”

“So do I.”

“Junpei makes really good fried rice, too.” Akane added quickly, “But not as good as yours, niichan.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m cooking, you don’t have to flatter me.” Aoi smiled to himself and at the leek. For a moment Junpei could see the younger Kurashikis, Akane dancing in the kitchen in anticipation for her brother’s cooking and Aoi telling her to be patient as he went about his task with the skill and concentration of a mother.

Maybe this could work out, Junpei thought, though he couldn’t imagine taking a bento filled with Aoi’s food to work. They’d never stop making fun of him and his delicate cut radishes and octopi-shaped sausage.

The three of them sat down to eat and Junpei was reminded of family commercials on TV, the kind he hadn’t been able to relate to in a long time. Here was the big brother, the little sister, and the...grumpy brother-in-law? Confused? Hungry. Hungry, at least.

Akane steered the dinner conversation, telling Aoi about their recent cases, being sure to credit Junpei for his every victory (which he appreciated), and being even more complimentary to herself. She talked about their life with Tanaka and how much they’d traveled. She was in the middle of a story when Aoi interrupted her:

“How much?” 

“What, niichan?”

“How much of your life did I miss out on?” Aoi said. He studied his chopsticks and pushed an expertly-chopped piece of leek around on his plate.

“We spent a lot of time on the road,” Junpei butted in. “Saw Yellowstone, went to the Atlantic, went all over, really. It got old. Akane, remember when we had your birthday in the Petrified Forest?”

“Yeah! Niichan, it looked amazing.”

“Yeah?” Aoi looked distant and his lips pressed together in a thin line, though the tone of his voice wasn’t disinterested or harsh.

Junpei continued, “And then we spent so much time in back rooms, getting information and making weird deals. Tanaka was good at that stuff.” After a moment he was sure to add, ”Akane, too.”

“Runs in the family,” Aoi replied. “When did you get married?”

“Last year. It was a courthouse ceremony with Tanaka and an old coworker, you didn’t miss anything,” Junpei was quick to tell him.

“We took a picture!” Akane jumped up from the table, crossed the room to retrieve said picture, and presented it to him with pride. In it, she was in a soft blue lace dress with a spray of white flowers pinned in her hair, above her ear. Her eyes were soft, her hands wrapped around a delicate bouquet Tanaka had bought her from the grocery store on the way there, and they’d dripped water down her dress. Junpei thought he’d cleaned up well in a suit they’d found at a thrift store earlier that week.

Junpei could remember the day now. Despite everything, he’d been so happy.

Aoi took the photo from her and held it like it was a sacred relic. He examined it as if looking for a flaw in the perfect moment, before smiling. “Sounds like you had a better life, all things considered.”

“I really did, niichan. Thank you so much,” Akane said, before putting her arms over his shoulders, bracing him in a hug. “Now it’s your turn to be saved.”

“...I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not like you anymore,” he admitted. “And people depend on me to keep them safe inside Free the Soul.” 

“We depend on you,” Akane said, not letting go of him.

Aoi rubbed her forearm before pushing her away. “I’ll see how I feel later, okay?”

After dinner Junpei suggested that they break up the doom talk with a movie, and they propped their laptop up on a chair so they could play an old sports film that Junpei liked to watch. Akane played with her phone, likely messaging her conspiracy theorists group chat. Aoi sat on the floor, far from them, and looked at the screen but wasn’t watching anything. He looked consternated and restless, and couldn’t stop playing with his coin.

When the film was done Akane got up and closed the laptop before Junpei could suggest they put on another. “I have a question,” she announced, and Junpei knew then it wasn’t a question or suggestion, but a demand. “Why don’t we try using my esper power?”

“Can we even do it?” Junpei said, swallowing. The truth was he didn’t want Akane to try again, and thus open a door to their troubled childhood. It was like the closer they got to what Free the Soul had wanted them to become, the less he felt like himself, the less she looked like Akane.

He couldn’t lose Akane. She was one of two people left in the world, the only one he’d ever love as a wife.

“But if I take the drug…”

“No,” Aoi said, looking at her hard. It was a big brother’s look, one fixed on stubborn little sisters who were going to do whatever they liked regardless.

“Too late, I already have it.”

Aoi rolled his eyes. “Oh, goddamn it, Akane.”

“We can do this, niichan.”

“Don’t you remember how it feels?” he said softly. “I don’t want you to go through with that.”

Junpei wanted to point out that Aoi had no problem putting Junpei through that, but Akane had made him promise to be nice.

“I can do it for you,” Akane swore.

Aoi ran a hand down his face. He clearly didn’t want that, but Junpei sure as hell wasn’t taking the drugs again.

“I’m gonna check on Tanaka,” Junpei said, grabbing the laptop. As a matter of course, they all had small GPS trackers on each others’ phones and cars just in case one or more of them went missing. Junpei was worried as he hadn’t heard from the man in a while, though he’d been distracted with Aoi most of the time. Tanaka’s GPS said his car was out on the edge of town; Junpei cross-referenced the coordinates with an online map and found he was on a residential street, in a particular home on the end of the row.

Junpei tried to call him, and he didn’t answer. He cursed that he didn’t know Diana’s number, and he asked himself if he’d been right to be angry with and even suspicious of her. It had been years; he couldn’t fully know her based off a handful of meetings and some old goodwill.

“This doesn’t feel right,” he told the Kurashikis.

“So let’s go,” Aoi said. He was sitting with one knee up, his arm draped over it, and this affected casualness belied how edgy he still looked. He was familiar with Free the Soul, after all—how quickly they could move, and what they did to those who threatened their iron grip on their followers.

Junpei hurried to grab his keys.

**

Junpei pushed the speed limit as he drove, thinking the whole way about what he might find at the house. He didn’t know if Diana was okay, if Tanaka was okay, or what was taking them so long. He snorted when he had a passing thought that maybe they’d lost track of the time—yeah, right. Nothing was ever an accident in Junpei’s world. Along the way, he’d learned not to trust coincidence or innocuous human interactions. If they weren’t responding, it was because something had happened.

The location was a house with faded siding and an overgrown lawn, like the owners had either neglected it or been gone for some time. It stood in spite of its shabbiness, and Junpei admired the little house for that at least. Inside, it held Tanaka and maybe Diana, and Junpei hoped it held them safe.

They didn’t have to break the door down or do anything so dramatic: the front door yielded to them easy, and Junpei was almost disappointed at the lack of action and drama. When they went inside, what they found was self-explanatory: Tanaka, incapacitated and Diana, gone. 

Tanaka was sprawled out on the floor, snoring softly, and bleeding from a head wound that had left a disturbing stream of blood down his face. Junpei checked his pulse while Akane shook him, but he didn’t respond though his pulse was steady.

“He’ll be fine,” Junpei reassured Akane.

“But where’s Diana?” 

True, the house was empty and silent. They confirmed this by searching the place and calling her name, and she was nowhere to be found.

“She must be so scared,” Akane said sadly. Her hands worried Tanaka’s collar and then she stroked his face, streaking blood down his cheek and on her fingers. Akane had never been bothered by blood, her own or others’, and Junpei forgot to find it disturbing.

Instead, he had to focus on Diana, the missing part of this equation. “So we’ll go save her right?” He looked between the Kurashiki siblings, at Akane’s nod to Aoi’s raised eyebrow and disdainful expression.

Aoi looked at him as if he were crazy. “No. If she’s with the people who I think did this, they won’t hurt her, and we have to—”

Junpei exclaimed, “We have to help Diana! You bullied her into doing this, so you take responsibility for her!” His hand formed a fist and he would’ve stood up and taken a swing at the other if Akane weren’t there.

Aoi said, “This is clearly a trap.”

“So?”

“Like I said, if she’s with who I think she’s with, then she’s fine for now. We have to—“

“Who took her?”

Aoi shrugged. “Probably Phi and Sigma.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk how long this fic will be or how quickly I'll keep updating but I'm having a lot of fun and hope you are too!


	8. Chapter 8

The hospital lights might as well have been spotlights; Junpei felt trapped and hot underneath them. He was glad they’d taken Tanaka to the hospital but, like most hospitals, Junpei didn’t like being there. They reminded him of the infirmary in the old compound, and of being tested, prodded, and poked. He put his head in his hands. 

“Stop sulking,” Tanaka said. He was awake but grumpy, bleary from his concussion. He didn't remember what happened after meeting with Diana. Still, he showed his concern for Junpei and Akane by ribbing them.

Junpei raised his head. “I’m not.” Still their little curtained-off room in the ER was too small, especially with four people in there. He wanted to go home.

"Don't worry, Junpei will stop," Akane said with a wink at Junpei. "Tanaka, you’re so stupid." She shook her head. "So, so, stupid."

He rubbed her head, mussing her hair until it fell in front of her face. "Thanks, you too for following me."

"Why wouldn't we?" Junpei said, feeling frustrated he couldn’t solve the problem. He’d heard the metaphor of a tangled web, but what was between them was a carefully-constructed web, made up of points plotted from every shared memory, reinforced with steel fiber. Tanaka protected them as they wanted to take care of him now.

“I’ll be fine. You have to find Diana,” he said.

“We will.”

Tanaka looked hard at Aoi, having heard about his resistance to saving her. “And you watch your attitude.”

Aoi made a dismissive ‘hmph’ noise and looked at the TV, silently playing a home improvement show.

They left Tanaka there, trusting he would check himself out of the hospital the first chance he had. They had to leave, though they didn’t want to, as Aoi pointed out earlier that they had to split in case the cops had been called due to the sketchy circumstances surrounding Tanaka’s injury. ‘He fell’ didn’t convince their skeptical nurse. Aoi mentioned he already had a lie ready in case they were coming, and Junpei thought that Aoi was good at that.

In the car, they talked about what Aoi had said at the abandoned house. They hadn’t had time to talk about it beyond brief surprise, so Junpei twisted around in the passenger seat to ask Aoi, “So how are Phi and Sigma involved?”

Aoi rubbed his neck, looking suddenly bashful, likely because they’d caught him in another lie. “They’re fixers for Free the Soul; my boss used them once, so we met again.”

“You said you had no idea where anyone was,” Akane said. She scrutinized Aoi in the rear view mirror.

Aoi wilted under her gaze. “Shocker, I lied. That was before I said I won’t anymore. When I met them, they didn’t seem like they’d ever be a problem.”

Junpei said with an edge in his voice, “Except they kidnapped Diana.”

Aoi scoffed, a familiar sound coming from him by now. “If your Daddy says so, we’ll rescue her.”

“Why don’t you care!” Junpei clutched the seat and glared at Aoi. His patience was thin from everything going on and he wanted Akane to jump in; she tapped his knee as if to say she knew.

Aoi leaned in until his face was close to Junpei’s. “I don’t not care, but I have to focus on what I need to do.”

Akane interjected, “Well we aren’t going, niichan, until we’ve found Diana.”

Aoi flattened himself against the backseat and crossed his arms. 

The car was dead silent for the rest of the ride to Tanaka’s house. Junpei and Akane collected materials that were relevant to Diana, and let Aoi pick through them to find what was accurate and relevant for his needs. He selected some notebooks, findings from Junpei and Akane’s agency, and said, “Not bad. These guys are thorough.”

Akane snapped her fingers. “Junpei, call work. Maybe they’ve heard of Phi and Sigma.” 

The agency dealt closely with the underground world, from the worst people to the slightly-good people (never fully good, Junpei thought) and over time Junpei and Akane had seen that Free the Soul-affiliated people were among the ones they knew. It was part of the reason the two had chosen to work for the agency.

Junpei called, got an earful about how little he and Akane had reported back in the last few days, and apologized a dozen times before he said, “Can I get a favor?”

“Why?” his boss snapped.

“Oh, come on, have I ever asked you for anything?” Junpei tried, twisting his hand around his elbow, before saying, “And wouldn’t it be a shame if your wife found out where you really go every Thursday night?”

“I—damn you, Hanaoka. Come in.”

When Junpei hung up, he chuckled and said, “I don’t think he likes me.” 

**

Aoi sulked in the corner of their boss’ office, determined to bring the room down with him, though Junpei was determined to be optimistic now to spite him.

Boss was also clearly pissed, helpless under the threat of blackmail, but Akane did most of the talking and, like everybody, Boss never had it in himself to hate Akane. There was a brief period of time where he and Junpei communicated solely through her.

After Aoi described the adult Phi and Sigma as he remembered them, Boss shook his head. “Never heard of ‘em,” he said, and the way he scowled told Junpei he wasn’t lying. Boss hated not finding something. “We can try and trace a call if you get me their number.”

Aoi looked down at his nails as he said, “If I call my boss, he’ll know I’m up to something, and I can’t risk…” He glanced between Akane and Junpei, lingering on Akane, before nodding, swallowing like he was swallowing bitterness. He called his boss. “Hey, guess what? Found two people who escaped. You think those two guys you used could help recover them?”

Junpei gestured at him wildly to shut up about _that_ —nobody needed to hear about them, damn it—before Aoi waved him off, sticking his tongue out at him. He took down some information with the pen and paper they’d provided him. “Yeah? Thanks, I’ll call backup.” After he hung up, he sighed, “I am so screwed,” under his breath.

Akane got up and after a long moment of standing before him grabbed his shoulders, made him look at her, and whispered something Junpei couldn’t make out. Aoi looked away from her and shook his head, pressing his tongue against his cheek.

“Uh…” Junpei stared at the floor, not sure Aoi would want what he had to say, before Aoi interrupted him with, “Don’t.”

“Call them, I’ve got stuff to do,” Boss said, his impatience showing in his tapping fingers, and Aoi dialed the number with sharp jabs at his phone. 

“Hi, is Diana busy?” he said, graceless as he was prone to being, and judging by his smirk, they hadnt responded well. Back-and-forth was only entertaining to Junpei if he could hear both sides of the conversation, so he didn’t understand what to make of it all until Aoi said, “Right. I’ll meet you there.” He hung up, set his phone down on his thigh, and said, “Let’s go.” 

**

Akane drummed on the steering wheel as she drove; Junpei’s stomach regretted giving the task of driving to her. They were headed to another hotel near the Odyssey. 

“What if they’ve known where we are all the time?” Junpei asked. “They took out Tanaka, they might do it to us.” Maybe they were the ones sent to kill Aoi. Junpei remembered Phi as tiny but Sigma as big for his age; what did they look like now? What could they do, molded as they’d been by Free the Soul?

“They could kill us,” Aoi acknowledged. “But I don’t think they will. They don’t do a damn thing they’re not ordered to do, and fixers only kill if they have to.”

“They could have friends.”

“If you want to stop, by all means,” Aoi said. “But I already fucked myself over this, so I’m going.”

Junpei made an exasperated noise and threw himself back in his seat.

Arriving at the hotel, it was nondescript and that made more sense than what Aoi had picked for himself. Junpei didn’t like Free the Soul, but he had to admit Phi and Sigma seemed smarter about their conduct than Aoi, whose casual dress at the moment announced that he liked attention. Another thing that Akane had picked up from him, though she expressed it with clever arguments and insightful if unique tangents.

They’d been given the room number and stopped before it, standing close together before Aoi braced his shoulder against the door. He mouthed, ‘Ready?.’

Junpei and Akane, guns at their sides just in case, both gave him a thumbs-up. Aoi stepped back but Akane stopped him from trying to ram the door; there was an embarrassing Junpei story about the time he tried to push a door down that Tanaka still roared with laughter about. 

They settled for knocking, and when the door opened, Junpei found he had his gun aimed at Diana. Her eyes were wide yet she looked tired. She wore a red dress, wrinkled like it had been shaken and worn straight out of a bag. 

“Oh. You’re here.”

“We ‘really shouldn’t be here?’” Junpei said, echoing her previous words.

“No. This is how I thought it would go.” She reached out and stroked Junpei’s cheek, holding her hand there for a moment and giving him a small, sad smile. “Come inside.”

Junpei searched the room with his eyes as they entered, gun still drawn, and found two other people: one on the bed, and one standing behind and to the right of her. The woman, Phi, didn’t look like an intimidating, shady figure, but the way she held herself suggested she believed she was powerful and skilled. Her hair was bleached and razor-cut short, and she wore stylish (as if Junpei knew anything about style) clothing. She looked more like an average young woman on vacation than a cultist.

The man, Sigma, looked even less like a secret servant of Free the Soul in some ridiculous coveralls. He belonged in college or whatever normal people their age did, partying and hitting on girls. Instead he was there, glancing at Diana like he didn’t want her near the others. His posture and stance suggested deference to Phi.

“Hello,” Phi said, picking at the dingy, colorless bedspread as if it had displeased her. “Let’s not waste time: you’re not getting Diana.”

Diana returned to Phi and sat down. She moved like she was a windup doll, and Phi’s hand held the key. Phi put a hand on her arm and looked approvingly at her. Sigma looked sidelong at the two of them but didn’t add anything. He held his hands behind his back like he was waiting for instructions.

“Hi, Phi,” Akane said, stepping out from the group. “I didn’t think you’d say yes to meeting us. Thank you.”

“Who are you?”

“Akane.” Akane gave her a placid smile and put a hand to her chin, gauging Phi’s reaction.

Phi’s eyes widened, and she repeated Akane’s name in an undertone before saying, “So you’re Junpei,” to him. “The lucky ones.” She raised a shoulder. “Though that doesn’t mean I think we’re unlucky.”

“Good for you,” Junpei said, fighting the urge to say he didn’t care what they thought. They were, at the end of the day, the ones left behind, and at one time his friends. He didn’t blame them if their opinions had been scrambled by years of systematic torture, and had the sudden guilt, settling on him like gravity, that he couldn’t help them either.

Akane looked back at him as if telling him to be quiet, to let her handle it. “You attacked someone very important to us.”

Sigma spoke up, raising a pointer finger and said, “Technically Phi did.” Phi glared back at him.

Akane continued, putting one foot in front of the other in what Junpei liked to call her power stance. “And you took Diana.”

“To protect Diana from someone who was using her,” Phi said, staring Aoi down.

Aoi rolled his eyes and briefly flipped her off. “And where are you going to take her, back to Free the Soul? Do you think she wants that?”

“She wants to stay with us!” Phi looked to Diana, hand on her knee, and judging by her expression was searching for Diana’s affirmation, her care.

“What do you want, Diana?” Junpei asked. They’d come all this way for her, and no matter what she said next, he still wanted to drag her far, far away from anyone affiliated with Free the Soul. He’d promised to protect her.

“I want to stay with them,” Diana said, looking in Phi’s eyes and gently chucking her under the chin, smiling at the way Phi made a face. “I’ve wanted to find them for so long, and they already promised they’d protect me.”

“By hiding you forever? Do you really want to be on the run for the rest of your life?” Junpei pressed her because she couldn’t want that, she had tried so hard to build a normal life for herself. “Life is better out there,” he tried.

Diana didn’t address his point, instead saying something that cut down to his breastbone, stopping just short of his heart: “You weren’t supposed to be the ones I saved.” She tugged one sleeve down over her hand and made a fist under it. “I only saved you because I couldn’t get ahold of Phi and Sigma that night.”

“Even if that’s true,” Akane said, “we don’t care. We want to set you free from everyone who wants to use you, even if it’s my brother.”

Aoi made an offended noise behind her, but fuck him, Junpei thought.

“Diana, you’re free right now. Our deal is over. Sorry I ever did that,” Aoi said, rubbing his upper arm. Whether he was telling the truth was nebulous, maybe ‘next to the truth.’ “So choose what you want to do. Be free or be contraband.”

Diana stood up with purpose, marched to Junpei, and threw her arms around him, strangling him. “Go home, Junpei. I… I don’t want you.”

Junpei’s traitorous eyes blurred then and he dug his fingers into her lower back, refusing to let her go until Phi pulled Diana away. “You’re lying.”

“And if she is, she’s still not choosing you,” Phi said, ignoring Sigma’s soft, scolding, ‘Phi.’

“We’re leaving.”

“Junpei—” Akane began.

“We’re leaving, goddamn it!”

Behind him, Aoi opened the door. “Told you this was a waste of time. So glad I stuck my neck out for you,” he aimed at Diana. 

Diana exhaled and said, “I thought you’d finally found someone you care about more than yourself.”

Aoi stiffened, but walked out. Junpei rushed to follow him, thinking that this was a mistake. He pulled away from Akane when she tried to hold him outside.

“She was lying,” she said, anticipating his thoughts.

“I don’t care.”

**

Tanaka was waiting for them at home, complaining that it took forever to get out and longer still for them to come home. He’d never doubted them, he admitted, and was glad they were safe. He didnt say that last part but it was obvious in the strong hair ruffles he gave them. When he heard about what happened with Diana, he scowled and said, “And I wasted all that time—”

“Seven,” Akane said in a warning tone. She didn’t touch Junpei but her hands twitched like she wanted to.

“What? Forget about her,” Junpei said as he rifled through the fridge for his beer. “Aoi’s right, she was a waste of time.” He quashed any more discussion of her with his silence. Freedom was overrated. It just left people open to hurting you. “What are we gonna do for those kids?”

“Well, they know I’m doing something shady now,” Aoi complained again, throwing himself down on the couch. “Nobody’s gonna be willing to talk to me.”

“So let’s talk to our friends,” Tanaka suggested. “We have plenty of people we could ask for help in finding those kids.”

“Sounds excellent,” Akane said.

“You never tell me my ideas are ‘excellent,’” Junpei said, trying to lighten his mood and bumping his shoulder into hers. “I think you have a favorite.”

“You never come up with an excellent idea,” she said without missing a beat, and Aoi laughed at Junpei’s expression. “Or… We could stop wasting time and use the morphogenetic field.” She procured the paper packet from her pocket and held it up with a mischievous expression.

Junpei’s first reaction was ‘No way,’ and then he thought about it: they were short on time, drawing suspicions, and had wasted energy on Diana. The kids could go at any time. This couldn’t wait. Akane was strong and knew her own mind, and he’d be there for her. 

Aoi and Junpei sought each other out, taking in the other’s torn expressions, before Aoi said, “You’re gonna do whatever you like. Let’s use the drugs.”

Akane stirred the powder into her favorite sugary juice, with confidence born of trusting her own abilities. She winked at Junpei before taking a massive gulp of the poisoned drink. She didn’t look different, and Junpei was comfortable for the moment. She was still his Akane, and her powers could never change that, even if her experiences had. She was knife-sharp to be sure, but she’d never use that to hurt him. 

“You’ll wanna sit down,” he advised her, and she lay down on the couch at his insistence. He kneeled on the floor beside her and held her hand, waiting for her to nod off like he had. 

It happened all at once; Akane inhaled sharply, and then she was gone. Her body went rigid, then slack, and she moaned but didn’t open her eyes. Junpei could feel the change, and then he realized what it was: the energy in the air was magnetic, like when he’d seen Aoi’s brain. He started to sweat, then shiver, and then Junpei was drawn into her mind without any chance to resist.


	9. Chapter 9

Junpei drifted through time. He saw his memories of marrying Akane, of working on cases, of living with Tanaka. He felt the terror of being kidnapped and life with Free the Soul. He wanted to stop and find solid ground again but he couldn’t.

When he finally stopped, he was dizzy and held his head. He was curled in on himself, sitting on a hard mattress, and rocking. 

“Hey, Junpei,” another man said above him. “Hurry up. They’re never gonna believe you’re sick.”

It was less of a man’s and more of a boy’s voice, Junpei realized. Looking up, he saw that boy was Aoi, his teenage face looking a cross between worried and annoyed. His arms were crossed and he all but tapped his foot impatiently.

“Well, come on,” Aoi said.

“Give me a minute,” Junpei said, and noted his younger, immature voice. He’d been late to puberty and his voice was his sore point for a long time. Hearing it again for the first time in years embarrassed him. He looked at his hands—no wedding ring. No Akane.

Looking around, he saw a roomful of similar sleepy, grumbling boys getting dressed, scuffling, fighting for space. Waking up was the worst here because for a moment Junpei could pretend he was home, and then he opened his eyes and saw he was still in the long, narrow, gray dorm room on a twin bed with a hard metal frame.

Aoi pulled on Junpei’s upper arm and he protested but got to his feet, taking shallow breaths because there was no way he was back here, he refused to believe it. But the floor felt solid and the clothes scratchy and he could already taste the gooey oatmeal they’d eaten every morning.

Aoi shoved his robes at him, and reluctantly, Junpei dressed. He watched the world around him with a layer of disbelief because he had to to protect himself. This was a realistic but bad dream. Akane would wake him up soon.

**

Breakfast was that same oatmeal. He gagged on it and got an evil eye from one of the minders—established members of the cult responsible for raising them until they graduated from this place. Junpei’s brain filled in the gaps he’d forcibly made in his memory and, looking around the table, noticed some of the oldest kids were gone now. They had gotten to leave this place, though not go back to their real families.

Looking across the room, he saw the girls at their table and Diana standing in the place of a minder. Diana had graduated but stayed with all of them, he remembered.

Akane’s back was to him, her head dipping down to eat her breakfast with the same slow, steady motions with which she always ate. He’d tried to get up to talk to her but had been dragged back to his seat because boys and girls were always separated unless it was for class or service.

He saw kids he recognized and had only thought about fleetingly in years since he left: Clover kicking her feet under the table; her brother at the end of Junpei’s table, stirring his food; Sigma surreptitiously waving to Phi with his hand at waist level; Phi looking at him like she was telling him not to draw attention. Their faces were all so real, so vivid in this dream, formed by his memories.

Junpei didn’t talk unless he had to; he was sleepwalking through this, observing everything without being a part of it. He walked to morning service, chanted and mouthed the words to a song, and skimmed the books. His listless behavior didn’t go unnoticed.

“What’s wrong with you?” Aoi whispered as they followed in a single-file line to the next class. Aoi had a thinner filter than most, even after years of trying to hammer it out of him, and he had an attitude even when he was concerned. 

“I’m fine,” Junpei mumbled, putting his hands in the convenient robe pockets.

“Hey, just listen,” Aoi said after a moment’s quiet. “Wait twenty minutes after lights out and meet me at the out of order bathroom tonight.”

“Why?”

“You’ll see.”

This was where the second half of his life began, Junpei thought. This was where he picked Akane and himself and abandoned everyone else, and God help him he didn’t regret it. He wouldn’t.

He was restless and not tired a bit as bedtime neared. Taking off his robe for what he knew would be the last time (until Aoi dragged him to that service in the future) was freeing. Soon he would be safe.

He sneaked out at the appropriate time, skirting the hallways to avoid patrolling cultists, and arrived at the bathroom, peeking inside of it to find Diana, Aoi, Akane, and the fateful laundry cart he’d been smuggled out in. He wanted to crawl inside of it immediately; if he did he’d wake up.

“Hurry,” Aoi said once more. “Get in. You’re getting out of here.”

“It can’t fit three people,” Akane pointed out, inspecting the inside of the cart. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m not going, go ahead. I’ll figure something out.”

Akane protested, made the same arguments she’d made back then, and Junpei looked between them. He saw Akane’s pained expression and Diana’s worried one and Aoi’s neutral one and an uncomfortable feeling settled in his stomach. It felt like when he swallowed hot soup too fast, how it burned going down and inside of him.

Junpei was guilty. And he could only blame that feeling and idle curiosity of how the dream would change on what he said next:

“Aoi should go.”

“What?” Diana and Aoi said at once.

“He’s Akane’s big brother,” Junpei said, shrugging. “I think they should stay together.” He thought of Akane’s long search, her pain, her hope. It didn’t have to be fruitless in this world. And Junpei was older on the inside, he would find a way out of here no problem even if he had to graduate and then escape. He could imagine the time slipping by quickly in his sleep.

“You can’t stay here, they’ll make you tell where we went,” Aoi argued. He put his hands on Junpei’s shoulders, looking down at him with concern. “They’re not gonna be nice about it, kid.” Aoi called people ‘kid’ sometimes, when he was feeling nice.

“I don’t know where you’re going; I’ll just know that you left, and by the time they find out you’re gone you’ll be far away, right?” Junpei looked to Diana. “You know enough to be dangerous, but they still won’t find anyone.”

“Jumpy…” Akane said, pushing her brother’s hands aside to stand close to him. “Are you sure?” She was asking with fear in her voice, but she didn’t try to stop him.

“I know you’ll always regret this if you don’t pick him,” he said. “I’ll be fine, Kanny.” He forced himself to smile, because he knew he’d wake up and see her soon.

Akane wiped at her eyes before murmuring, “Thank you.”

Aoi asked him again if he was sure, and then when Junpei said he was, Aoi didn’t protest. His face showed he really did want to go, and was relieved the decision had been taken out of his hands. Aoi picked up Akane and placed her in the cart before climbing in himself, and right around that time Junpei started to feel sick.

‘Wait,’ he wanted to say when Diana started pushing it with great effort, ‘I changed my mind!’ 

But it was too late to regret it now.

**

Junpei felt his head slip off of the fist he’d used to prop it up, and he jerked back to awareness.

Around the table, everyone in the group was looking at him with open disdain, and when he mumbled an apology those looks didn’t go away. That wasn’t like Akane and Tanaka—

With wide eyes, he realized he wasn’t with them. He was with people he felt faint recognition toward, his brain providing identifying details, but confusion reigned. He was supposed to wake up. 

He wasn’t home. He was in a conference room with almost-strangers.

“Wake up,” Phi said, leaning on the table with one elbow too, but making it look like part of her job instead of lazy like Junpei.

Sigma slapped his arm lightly, with familiarity.

“Jet lag,” Junpei lied, a memory of going to Japan recently nudging at him. He’d come back last night; he’d been sent to find and follow some kids, learn their routines and when they would be alone. He remembered being baffled by the new ticket machines that had replaced ones from his childhood; he remembered stumbling over his first language because he hadn’t had a reason to speak it in years. 

He had to endure the humiliation, because work was work.

He stood up at the table, looking around and realizing he was where he’d always had nightmares about being. Their banner hung on the opposite wall, and Phi and Sigma’s presences were a clue.

He was with Free the Soul.

And he was very alone. No Akane, no Tanaka.

“Junpei?” Sigma asked.

“What are we doing?”

“You were ignoring us,” another person in the circle said impatiently. “Thank you for making us stop the meeting for you.”

“Is this about the kids? It is, right?” Junpei shook his head, gesturing with one hand. “We can’t do this!”

“Last I checked,” Phi said dryly, “We have to do what we’re told.”

“No. It’s wrong.” The sternness in his voice surprised him, and he slapped a hand down on the table. “I won’t help you.”

“Junpei, I think you’re not feeling well,” Sigma said hurriedly, standing up too and grabbing Junpei’s arm. He turned Junpei toward him and put his free hand on Junpei’s forehead. “See, you’re burning up.”

“He looks fine,” Phi said.

“No, no, it’s awful. He really should get checked out.” Sigma started to drag him, too strong to resist. Damn Junpei for not prioritizing strength training. “I’ll take him home. We’ll talk later.”

Once they were out in the hallway, Sigma shook him before whispering, “What the hell are you doing?” He didn’t look mad, more worried. “You can’t just talk like that. Would it kill you to behave?”

“Go to hell, you know it’s wrong.”

Sigma looked rueful and didn’t reply to that. “Go home, Junpei, and when you come back, come back more cooperative.”

Junpei pushed him off and stormed off in one direction before realizing he had no idea where he was going, no plan, and no allies he could be honest with. He was nearly panting with mounting anxiety and swiveled his head, looking for a way out. There were none.

Another memory rose to the surface of his mind: he lived in the C Ward of this base, in a box of a room, because he was a field agent. Depending on how one looked at it, this was either a privilege differentiating him from ‘normal’ members, or a curse. Deciding he at least had to be alone, Junpei headed there. His hands shook and he struggled to walk in a straight line, and by the time he arrived his vision was fuzzy.

His room was plain except for a tiny shelf of worn paperbacks over his twin bed. Junpei crawled into bed and curled up as much as he could, hiding his head under the pillow like he needed to when he had these attacks. He was cold, and lonely for Akane in bed next to him, pressing herself against him to provide comforting weight. He was safe with her and unsafe here no matter who tried to look out for him like Sigma had.

He didn’t know how much time passed before there was a knock at his bedroom door. He didn’t want to leave his only source of comfort until he heard their voice:

“Junpei?”

Cautiously, he dragged himself out of bed and went to the door, opening it to find Diana. 

She smiled when she saw him. “Good, you’re awake. I heard you didn’t feel well so I thought you’d need this.” She held up a chocolate bar, something he didn’t remember ever being in the compound he’d grown up in. She gently pushed her way inside before closing the door behind her, brushing him to do so.

Junpei was sore from even the slightest contact. When he sat back on the bed, he slumped against the wall. He took the chocolate from Diana, ripped it open, and broke off three pieces before handing the rest back to her. They quietly munched on it for a minute. Looking at her was hard, wondering if it was his fault she was here too. The chocolate was bittersweet and he didn’t like it. Maybe this Junpei did.

‘This Junpei?’ He was himself; there was only one of him, SHIFTing aside. He was dreaming still.

But the bed felt real, and Diana was warm beside him. He swallowed.

“I’m worried for you,” she said. “You’re not acting like yourself.”

“What am I supposed to be like?”

“Still outspoken,” she teased, “but not insubordinate. Junpei, you don’t want to attract the wrong kind of attention. Nobody likes an individual here.”

Diana used to be one; she’d had the courage and strength to run away even after what Free the Soul must’ve done to her once they found out she helped him escape. She’d survived another trauma and she still fought. She’d survived Aoi. Now who was she?

Junpei scoffed. “I don’t want to be a good little soldier. What they’re going to do is wrong, how can you go along with it?”

Diana stared into space, chewing her piece of chocolate before saying, “I guess because I’m a coward.”

“No, you’re not.” He squeezed her knee. “I refuse to believe that.”

“Thank you, but…” She shook her head. “You don’t remember the past few years, do you?”

Well, he didn’t, but he wouldn’t tell her that especially when she was being rhetorical. 

“I remember the person who saved Akane and Aoi.”

Without a word, Diana patted his hand over her knee, pushed it off, and got up. She handed him the remainder of the chocolate.

“Be good, Junpei. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Being good would make him a monster, he wanted to argue, but Diana wouldn’t hear it, judging by the look on her face. She left him with too many questions.

Junpei was sleepy despite the sugar, and he pulled the blanket over his head and hoped when he woke up all of it would go away.

**

Junpei used the next few days to learn about himself. He was a field agent, working as the spy he’d been trained to be. He could throw a punch and chant in service perfectly. He was respected enough for a junior. He spent most of his time with Phi, Sigma, and Diana for lack of anyone else he trusted even a little. He didn’t see anyone else who’d grown up with him.

Most importantly, he had access to a computer as part of his job. The first thing he looked up was Tanaka’s house, to make sure it was still standing, and then property records to find that it was still owned by Tanaka’s alias. That was where he would go once he got his hands on some car keys.

The next thing he looked into was his own information on the child abductions that were about to start up again. He got names, faces, schedules of kids in Japan and America, and tried his best to memorize what he could, knowing that leaving a record of him saving anything would tip his hand. Once he was satisfied he’d saved what he could, he made his next move.

Akane was waiting for him. Tanaka was waiting. And he knew they’d had a good life without him, but it was about to get better for everyone involved.

He added himself to the vehicle request list, listing a last-minute made up objective for the kids mission as his reason for needing a car, and then he waited. He behaved himself. And he felt lighter as the time crept closer.

“Junpei,” Phi said as they were eating dinner one night, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?” Junpei dragged his spoon through his soup and hoped she wouldn’t see through him. His memories of Phi in this world were of someone keen and scalpel-sharp.

“You’re being awfully quiet now.”

“I thought you wanted me to be quiet.”

“All the time,” she joked. “But it just isn’t like you.”

“Diana and I talked and she got through to me, I guess,” he lied.

“If you say so,” Phi said. “I hear you’re going on a mission without us.”

“Yeah, last minute thing for the kids. I’m headed to the old place.”

“Say hi to it for me,” she said in a poor joke.

Junpei slurped his soup and ignored her dirty look.

**

The keys in his hand were heavy with purpose and hope. Junpei squeezed them in his fist before exhaling, trying to look normal in front of the clerk in charge of distribution. Not everyone got exciting jobs; he’d always pictured the cult as this run and gun operation, but they had clerks and janitors and cafeteria workers the same as a corporation. Not like he’d have to wonder anymore shortly.

As he settled into the car, an unassuming sedan like the kind he and Akane drove back home, he exclaimed under his breath and pumped his fist once. He pulled out of the lot with determination, being extra careful to look normal until he was out on the open road. He turned the music up loud. He kept shaking.

He was going home.

He passed the long hours wondering; if they’d recognize him, if they’d take him in, if they’d believe him. But he had to believe all of the above. 

Pulling up to the house was the scariest thing he’d done so far. There were two cars, one was Tanaka’s and the other was a hatchback he didn’t recognize, but knew Akane had a fondness for them. He jumped out of the car and headed up the driveway. He knocked on the door with power and purpose.

“Hello?” he called when nobody answered right away, and pounded on the door again. “Akane! Tanaka!” When he went to knock for the third time, the door cracked open.

“Who are you?” Aoi asked, peeking at him through the crack. He looked a lot like the casually dressed Aoi that Junpei had seen once before.

Junpei swallowed. “I’m Junpei. Let me in.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeeeeeeeee are almost at the halfway point now, enjoy.

Aoi made a face like Junpei was crazy, looking him up and down before saying, “No way,” and starting to close the door until Junpei shoved his foot between the door and the frame. He didn’t trust Aoi not to slam it on him but he had to try. Akane was on the other side of that door.

Junpei grunted and said, “You’re Aoi Kurashiki and when you were fifteen you were kidnapped by Free the Soul. You—”

“Okay, okay, tell the whole neighborhood,” Aoi said, releasing his grip on Junpei’s foot. “But what do you want?”

“Where’s Akane?”

“No, I asked you a question.” Aoi leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms, eyebrows raised.

Behind him, someone called, “Niichan, is it the pizza?”

Aoi’s “Nothing!” overlapped with Junpei’s “Akane!”, and then Aoi cried in surprise when Junpei barrelled through him, towards her voice.

Akane wasn’t far away. Junpei got inside the entryway and found her standing there in stocking feet, a wallet in one hand and cash in the other. Her fingers were all bare. Her expression was confused, examining him before asking,

“Who are you?”

Instead of answering, Junpei threw his arms around her, squeezing her and pecking her cheek even though her brother was right there. He held her so tightly she had to shake him off; he didn’t want to let go of her warmth.

“It’s Junpei,” he said softly.

“Junpei?!”

Junpei felt a hand on his shoulder like Aoi intended to tear him away from her, but he didn’t care. Akane was here, and she knew him.

Akane patted his hand. “Oh, Junpei… I’m so glad you’re alright.”

He was exhausted from the drive, from emotions, and asked, “Can I sit down?”

“Of course.”

The office looked different; the desks weren’t decorated with Akane’s unique designs, looking sleeker and arranged. He couldn’t imagine her or Tanaka having that style. The pictures on the walls were actually framed. It looked crowded and small with three work spaces shoved inside of it.

“Where’s Tanaka?” Junpei asked.

“He’ll be back soon,” Akane said, looking to her brother in question, who nodded. “How do you know him?”

“I’m kinda…” His student. His family. “We worked together.”

Aoi looked skeptical. “We would remember you.”

“We did! If I remember anything, I remember that!” Junpei ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t know how to convince them. “Listen, I belong here, not with Free the Soul. In the past Diana saved _me_ , not Aoi.”

“In the past?”

“Yes, but it changed or something, and everything is wrong! I grew up with Tanaka, Aoi never left Free the Soul, we’re married!”

Akane flushed at that, covering her mouth and stifling a nervous giggle. Aoi coughed.

“Junpei, that’s a little sudden,” Akane said, looking down at her skirt with unexpected bashfulness.

“It was real.” His hands shook. At this point Akane would always come to his side and bump her shoulder into his; if they were alone she’d hold him.

This Akane didn’t move, just looked at him with confusion and pity. “I’m sure it’s real to you.” To her brother, she said, “I told you so.”

“What?”

“About SHIFTing!” That familiar light came into her eyes and Junpei wanted to groan.

Aoi did. “Not now.”

“No, it’s true! Junpei remembers all of this because he’s from another history.”

“Or he’s a very good liar. He just said he came from Free the Soul.”

“Junpei,” she said, “what do I call Tanaka sometimes?”

“Seven.”

“Very good.” She held her hands over her heart and closed her eyes. “Did we have a song at our wedding?”

“No. You think dancing is embarrassing.”

“Two for two! And lastly, are aliens real?”

“As real as Elvis, who’s definitely alive today.”

Akane sat across from him, crossed her ankles, and said, “Tell me all about this history you came from.”

**

Tanaka had arrived home by the time Junpei and Akane were done talking about everything from the first night they’d escaped to the wallpaper in the bathroom of their apartment. Or at least it felt like that; for every question he answered Akane had three more. 

Tanaka didn’t interrupt them, just waited with quizzical looks at Aoi until Aoi shook his head and went to the back of the house. The sliding glass door opened and didn’t close for Aoi to sulk with maximum effect.

Akane leaned forward. “Fascinating. So you remember a whole different timeline.”

“Yes, I lived it. I have to get back there.” This other Junpei, whose body he’d stolen, would have to figure it out himself. Akane would help. Maybe.

Akane nodded. “All you’d have to do is die.”

“What?!”

“The best way to engage SHIFTing is to have a near-death experience, and it’s hard to calculate those. Did you have one when you came here?”

“No, we took those drugs, and then I felt my mind, like, going into yours…” Junpei scratched a spot above his ear. “Come to think of it, I was experiencing unreality there too.”

“How so?”

“I was seeing things that weren’t real, but felt real to me, or like another version of me. Like I was seeing his life and not mine.”

“When you first SHIFT, I’ve heard it’s hard to retain your memories of the history you came from; your new reality seems ‘normal’ to you, so in a way it’s unusual you can remember so much of this other history.”

“I’d never forget you.”

“What did you do to this guy, Akane?” Tanaka said in the background; Akane stuck her tongue out at him.

Junpei, hungry and tired and hoping Tanaka interrupted again, said, “What about morphogenetic field theory? I don’t have to go to another history to see its reality, if I use the fieldset.”

Akane thought about this, a finger to her chin. “Maybe, but…you were never very good at it in school.”

“Ugh.”

“It’s true! I don’t know what happened to you, Junpei, but you didn’t do it alone.”

“Can you help me?” he asked her, leaning forward in his seat, hands gripping his knees.

“I’ll try.”

That was all he needed to hear. His shoulders relaxed. It didn’t matter that someone back at work might figure out that he’d left under false pretenses, he wasn’t going back anyway. Akane hadn’t turned him away; he could do anything now. 

Akane turned to their mentor. “Tanaka—”

Tanaka cut her off with, “Do you trust him, Akane?”

“Yes. He’s one of us.”

“Then I’ll help.”

Akane got up and put a hand on his arm. “Thank you!”

He ruffled her hair and almost bent her neck from the force. Junpei never forgot who the favorite was in their equation, but he didn’t mind.

Aoi returned from the patio, still looking unhappy with the situation, and asked to speak to his sister alone. Akane did so.

“So, what was it like? With Free the Soul,” Tanaka said.

Junpei hadn’t wanted the memories to infiltrate his psyche until now; he had a headache and he didn’t want to worsen it by associating with Free the Soul. He didn’t want to forget who he was. 

“Awful.” 

He thought of every success he’d had there, every hint of empty praise, every indignity as a child. He thought of how programmed he was, how willing to give himself away to them. It wasn’t his fault, he thought, but he couldn’t help the self-recrimination. He’d been broken down and molded into what they wanted him to be, and still it was…

“Sorry, I guess that was obvious.” Tanaka sucked his teeth before saying, “I have to say it: these two are important. If you’re not who you say you are, if you give me a reason to think you’ll hurt them...”

“I know.” Junpei smiled. “You would kill anyone who hurts your legmen.”

“Exactly.”

“You almost did.” But that was a story for another time: a dark night, a knife, an angry Tanaka.

Tanaka sobered; clearly it had happened in this world too, or something like it. “Who are you?”

“Your legman.”

The Kurashikis returned and Akane looked satisfied. She had won the argument, then.

“You have anywhere to go?” Aoi asked, looking like he hoped Junpei would say ‘Yes.’

“No. I have nobody else. I left Free the Soul, they have no idea I’m here.”

“Anything tracking your car?”

“Maybe. I should ditch it and stay somewhere else.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Will you leave?” Akane asked.

“No.”

“Well,” Aoi said, “come on.”

**

Aoi drove one car and Junpei the other to drop it at the very edge of town, off a road leading into the desert. Junpei still buzzed with energy and couldn’t wait to feel safer. He wanted to stay with them, but he realized he’d endangered them enough already by showing up at their house, so here he was.

They stopped at the side of the road and Junpei jumped out as soon as he could.

“You think it’ll work?” Aoi asked, leaning against the driver’s side door of his own car.

“It better.” Junpei slammed his car door and left everything Free the Soul-affiliated behind.

The drive back was quiet. Junpei couldn’t help but notice that this Aoi, the freed one, seemed more subdued. He wasn’t opening his mouth to quip back at Junpei and he stared straight ahead.

“Are you two really married?” he came out with, and Junpei almost laughed.

“Yes. For years.”

“So you’re, like, really old over there?”

“No, same as I am now.”

Aoi frowned.

“She’s an adult,” Junpei said.

“I know, it’s just weird.”

Junpei bet, but he felt smug that Aoi was uncomfortable. “She’s still your everything,” he said, looking out the window instead of at Aoi. “Over there.”

“What am I like? I never got away, right?”

“No you didn’t, and you drugged me just to see what would happen, so you tell me.”

“I bet I had a good idea,” Aoi said.

Junpei grumbled and crossed his arms. “You’re a stockbroker too.”

“Huh. I always wanted to play, but we’re broke.”

“Hand to mouth. It was the same way in my other history, for a long time.”

The rest of the ride was quiet.

**

Junpei went to a hotel; Akane followed him to see he got there safely. She declined Aoi coming with her with a gentle yet firm tone. Aoi had grumbled but stayed put, dragging Tanaka to the living room to watch a baseball game. 

The hotel room was dark, and Junpei remembered this was the hotel he’d met Diana in so long ago. He wondered, despite himself, what she was doing now that he was gone. If she was worried or if she was angry.

“Well, here we are,” he said awkwardly, rubbing his head. He was alone with Akane and normally this meant he could touch her and kiss her unimpeded. He missed his wife. His body missed his wife.

Akane didn’t look nervous to be alone with a man. She said, “Yes.” She got closer to him, making eye contact, and said, “Do you need anything before I leave?”

Her, really. “No, I’ll be fine. I took cash when I left.” He breathed out through his nose to keep calm. “You can go now.”

“Are we really married in that other life?” She was closer now; he hadn’t noticed.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Best thing I could ever do.” He took her hand and she looked at his mouth.

From next door came a shout: a parent yelling at their child to settle down. Junpei and Akane both started and looked at the wall, and then he let go of her. The moment was gone.

“Tell me about it sometime,” Akane said softly. And then she left.

Junpei settled into bed and decided the first thing he needed was a shower, and then a stiff drink.

He never got the drink. After his shower, he wrote down everything he could remember in relation to the experiment kids. He filled up a hotel notepad with names, identifying details, and what he could remember of his own adventures in Japan. His memories informed him he was a field agent in charge of the preparation for the abductions. He was supposed to keep an eye on their future charges and make sure they’d be easy to disappear when the time came. 

He wondered why it was so easy for this Junpei to be everything he hated.

He lingered over the list of names, his new memories filtering in to show faces: smiles, frowns, scowls, laughter, and neutral expressions in photos stolen from schools and families’ social media accounts. 

He’d never seen his own experiment file. He’d never wanted to; he couldn’t picture someone following him home from school like he’d done earlier that week. That someone had been watching and waiting while he said what was supposed to be his final goodbye with Akane on that hill. 

These kids were going to have completely different lives, he thought.

He obtained a second notepad from the front desk and went back to work, but this time brainstorming ideas to get back to his own time. From things he’d seen in science fiction movies to things he remembered being tested on back at the compound. Akane’s suggestion dogged him; he couldn’t trust SHIFTing even if that was what had happened.

And he didn’t want to die with no guarantee he could ‘jump’ to another Junpei, a Junpei he’d be leaving to die in his place.

Around midnight he lay down, groaning as his back complained from being stuck in one position for so long. He watched TV, mindless, and his brain was mush. Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about the kids, about Akane, about Tanaka, about this new Aoi. He was jealous, and guilty for that. Aoi was living _his_ life.

Junpei slept fitfully, waking up at 2am and again at 6am. His body hurt when he woke, and then there was a knock at the door.

Checking the peephole, he saw a familiar face and smiled. He opened the door to the Kurashikis. Akane held a box of donuts. (He knew she would eat most of them.)

“Good morning!” she chimed. She was always a morning person, the one dragging him out of bed for work or a date or to meet with their associates. Sometimes Junpei could pull her back into bed to cuddle for a while longer.

Aoi had his hands in his pockets and looked over Junpei’s shoulder, scanning the room. 

“I’m alone,” Junpei said, leaning into his line of sight.

Aoi scoffed.

“Let us in, let us in,” Akane teased, idling past Junpei and bumping him with the box. She set it on the table and sat down, producing napkins from her pocket. She was in a dress Junpei remembered from the other history, dark and long, and it made him nostalgic.

Aoi stood; Junpei sat on the edge of the bed. Here the three of them were again.

“Hey, what have you been up to?” Aoi asked.

Junpei produced his papers and instead of Aoi gave them to Akane, who was conscientious enough not to touch them with sticky fingers. 

“Interesting,” she said. “I had no idea about this plan with the children.” She was quieter, more serious then.

“You would normally,” Junpei said lightly; Akane nodded at the praise as if it were expected. “What have you been doing?”

“Mostly following Free the Soul,” Aoi admitted, putting a hand on the back of his head. He shifted on his feet. “Trying to undermine them, trace their influences.”

“Well, here I am. I think I can help with that.”

“And how can we trust you?”

“Niichan.”

Junpei glared at Aoi. “Y’know, in that other world, you didn’t leave them either. You won’t leave.”

Aoi bit his bottom lip before waving Junpei off and going, “Fine. Go ahead.”

Junpei continued, “I don’t think I was fine in Free the Soul. Judging by what people have said, I’ve been a real pain in the ass.” But he’d still done his job, it wasn’t a question he would follow orders, and he hated that about this other Junpei no matter how much he’d been broken.

“So tell us what you know,” Aoi settled on.

The answer was ‘enough to be dangerous;’ he surprised the Kurashikis with several things he recalled about the cult’s operations, showing that their and Tanaka’s research hadn’t been totally accurate. They’d spent years with informants, escapees, people who functioned in the shadows, and never given up. Junpei noted with disappointment that it didn’t sound like they’d made an effort to find their missing cohort of espers.

“It’s been a crazy few years,” was all Aoi said, and Akane smiled apologetically. “And it looks like it’s gonna be that way for you. Where are you going to go?”

Well, home with them, right? His not-plan had hinged on that. 

Akane, sensing his hesitation, looked at Aoi in doubt. “Why can’t he come with us?”

“No way.”

“Niichan.”

“Tanaka agrees with me.”

“And Tanaka said he’d help _me_.”

“Well—”

Junpei snapped his fingers to get them to stop. Aoi looked affronted by that and Akane surprised. “Listen, I won’t be a burden to you. Just let me help you save those kids.”

Aoi swallowed. “How?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

**

They spent the rest of the day on laptops and phones, the Kurashikis contacting people they knew to help and Junpei wondering what to do about everything. He felt touchy and on the edge of an attack, dancing on that edge, but he didn’t want to lose control of himself or he’d be useless. And besides it would be embarrassing to do so in front of Kurashikis who didn’t really know him. Akane said she trusted him but he didn’t want to lose her. Still, his hands shook in the bathroom and he felt short of breath when he thought of everything he’d done and everything that could lead to.

He wanted to go home, but he had no home in this history.

“Ignore him,” Akane said when Aoi left to bring the car around so the three of them could meet with Tanaka at home. They’d decided the risk was outweighed by the advantage of being in a place they knew, and most importantly knew how to defend. “He’s...very protective because of everything that happened to us.”

“I understand that.” Junpei crossed his arms, wanting a buffer between him and this world.

Akane put her hand on his elbow. “I believe you when you say you’re done.”

“Thanks.”

Again, their eyes met and Junpei felt they were drawing closer to a culmination of their old feelings, but then Aoi returned and he was thwarted. Junpei wanted to curse. He made eye contact with Akane again and in her eyes was the same warm light she carried in his history.

“Let’s go,” Aoi said, jangling the keys between them.

Once at the office they tore it apart, to Tanaka’s complaints. The Kurashikis weren’t ones for housekeeping, it seemed.

“It’s our house, too,” Akane said, and Tanaka just shook his head.

“Well. Let’s get to work.”

Junpei felt out of place as he watched the three of them work and review the materials. He wanted to be useful too but it felt like he wasn’t needed there, as they kept their heads together and talked over each other. So Tanaka had raised them the same way, with the same working style. Junpei sat on the pullout couch and watched them.

“You gonna help?” Aoi said.

“You’re doing fine without me,” Junpei said.

“Well, hurry up,” Aoi said, he made room at the table to Akane’s approving eye.

Junpei felt at home and not for the next few days as they worked together. The detectives put a hold on their current cases to pursue this, and made haphazard plans that would require luck to work. It was the best they could do with what they had. The time for the first phase of abductions drew near.

On one level, Junpei knew he didn’t belong. He didn’t know where the tea was now or why they had so many cooking supplies when the three of them lived off of sandwiches and rice in his history. Aoi didn’t particularly try to make him feel welcome but he did cook for him. 

At night Junpei returned to his hotel room to make space. He was alone there one night when there was an unexpected knock at the door, and this time he didn’t smile at the faces on the other side. Phi looked impatient and Sigma worried.

Junpei ran a hand down his face before opening the door. “What do you want?”

“To save your life, idiot,” Phi said.


	11. Chapter 11

Junpei groaned. Phi pushed her way into the hotel room, followed by Sigma who was so big he couldn’t be denied.

Junpei slammed the door behind them before saying, "What makes you think I need that?"

Phi turned on him, her hands gesturing wildly. "Because you don't just leave, Junpei, especially not when you're one of the espers!" She scoffed. “You lied to my face. I knew nobody is scheduled to go visit where we were trained because _I’m_ involved in getting it ready.”

Oh. Well sue Junpei for being excited to leave and a bit shortsighted in the process.

Sigma put a hand on Phi’s shoulder and added, "Diana's freaking out about you."

Junpei felt for that, but he wouldn't go back especially not for a Diana he knew would pick Phi and Sigma over him. How she’d hugged him and then announced she only wanted him to go away still stung.

"She'll be fine."

“You won’t be!” Phi said.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m not going back.”

Phi and Sigma looked at each other as if they couldn’t conceive of the idea.

“We just made up an excuse and drove to another state to find you. You’re coming back,” Sigma said.

“Why? So I can help them kidnap kids and keep destroying the world?” Junpei looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t belong there. You don’t either.” He thought of his world, his wife, his life he deserved again. He had to get back and staying with Free the Soul would be defeat. Akane was waiting for him.

Sigma said, “It’s not like we have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice.”

“Please,” Phi said. “You preached at us enough back home.”

“It’s not our home!” Junpei exclaimed. He was swallowing even more anger, his shoulders squaring up as Phi continued to lecture him.

“It’s all we have!”

“You never used to settle for that.” Junpei, his memories of this reality bolstered by being in close proximity to Phi and Sigma, thought back to the many times he and Phi had debated the merits of getting out. Phi was always torn by the logistics and refusing to leave without Sigma _and_ Diana. Junpei could always see himself escaping alone, and though he had tried again and again as a teenager, he never did.

“Diana’s waiting,” Sigma tried.

“She’s not my mother. They took my mother.” Junpei leaned back against the wall. “I’m not going back.”

Phi glared at him. “Well where are you going to go?”

“I made some friends, that thing you should do.”

Phi rolled her eyes. 

Sigma gently shook her shoulder as it looked like she was about to pounce. “Say we compromised? Junpei, you have until tomorrow morning.” He gave an address to meet them at and tried to pull Phi away.

“I didn’t just— Junpei—”

“Bye, Phi,” he said with a sarcastic wave.

After they were gone, Junpei lay on his back in bed, pillow over his face, and groaned into it. He got up, counted his cash, and realized he likely had enough fare to take a cab to the Tanaka-Kurashiki home. 

The night air was sticky and warm as he waited at the curb; he bounced up onto his toes and then back down to his soles again and again to burn off excess energy. He leaned into the oncoming headlights and waved the cab down.

Once at the house, he had to shake his nerves out before knocking on the door.

Akane answered in her pajamas, cute purple things with bunnies on them. She even rubbed at her eyes as she said, “Junpei?”

“They found me.”

“What?! Come in, come in,” she said, ushering him inside. He had to brush her with his shoulder to get in and his skin tingled.

Inside the familiar nighttime sights were about: someone asleep on the couch, pulled out, with blue TV light washing over them. It didn’t take a closer examination to realize it was Aoi, not Tanaka, given their size difference. Aoi was peaceful with his back to them, not fighting anything or anyone for once. Tanaka had already gone to bed as Junpei could just see the sliver of his shut bedroom door through the entry to the hallway.

“Niichan, wake up,” Akane said as she sat down and bounced down on the pullout for maximum effect.

Aoi grumbled and waved her off; she bounced again. “What?”

“Junpei’s back.”

“Tell him to go away.”

“He can’t go away,” Junpei said.

Aoi sat up, squinted at him, and frowned.

Akane explained the situation and Aoi shook his head. “Damn. What now?”

“We help him.”

Junpei would’ve let Akane defend him all day, but he had to interrupt: “I know what to do. We can send me home.”

“Back to them?”

“No,” he said, approaching Akane and taking her face in his hands despite her surprise and Aoi’s protest. “Back to you. After I’m gone, you can do whatever you want with the Junpei who takes my place.”

Akane thought about this, and said, “But what if he betrays us, and tells Free the Soul where we are?”

“Then I’ll… then I’ll go somewhere far away from you guys before I SHIFT, just help me figure out how to get back there.”

“Morphogenetic field theory. If we use the fields we can figure out how you get back home.”

“Exactly.”

Aoi coughed and Junpei finally let go of Akane. “What do you want from us?”

“The same thing we did in school: let’s use the fieldset.”

They sat in a circle around the table. Akane to his left, Aoi to his right. When Akane took Junpei’s hand, he felt warm and electric.

“Right. Let’s try to see Junpei’s home reality,” she said like it was easy, a walk to the store.

“Uh-huh,” Aoi said, looking unconvinced.

“Thanks.”

“Of course.”

Akane had put on some old meditation music, like the kind he remembered playing when the minders forced the kids to do this back in the day. Junpei had fallen asleep more than once to it and woke up with a sharp clap to the back of his head. They held hands; Junpei felt awkward doing so with Aoi, whose hand was sweaty despite the AC.

Junpei focused again on the Akane who was his wife, the Tanaka who was his mentor, the Aoi who’d been left behind. He remembered his old room and his new apartment in detail, he tried to send Akane a message. It still felt so far away from him, imaginary almost, until suddenly he felt himself being swept under.

He could see Akane, sitting by Junpei’s side as he slept in a bed. Junpei noted with some disturbance that he was ziptied to the headboard. It was their bedroom at their apartment. Akane was reading a book but lifted her head when he whispered her name.

“Junpei?” she said, looking to the unconscious Junpei beside her. She shook her head when she saw it wasn’t him. “So tired…”

“Akane, it’s me! I’m talking to you through the fieldset!”

Akane looked to the ceiling, mouth parting, before saying aloud, “Junpei!” She covered her hand. “What does my ring look like?”

“It _was_ gold with purple stones, but apparently I’m going crazy. It’s silver and green now.”

“Junpei!” She smiled, relieved. “Where are you?”

“In another history. I never escaped and I stayed with Free the Soul—”

“This Junpei said the same thing! Come back soon. I don’t like him.”

“I’m trying,” he said, ego smarting that she didn’t like a Junpei. “How do I come home without dying?”

“I don’t know. Choose it?”

“How?” Akane had to know; she was the smartest person in the world, in any history.

“Go back to the point where history branched for you, and pick the choice that leads you to me. I think.”

“I will.” He felt himself being pulled on, and cursed it. ‘No, let me go home,’ he told the presence tugging at him mentally. “Akane, I have to go now.”

“Be well, Junpei. I—” Static and white noise hushed whatever she said next. Beside her, the other Junpei stirred and Akane, distracted, disconnected from him.

Junpei was pushed back in time.

**

“Damn it!” Junpei hit the table.

“Calm down,” Aoi said. “You’ll just go back again.”

“But I was close. Let’s do it again.”

“I’m exhausted,” Aoi complained. His sleeping tank top had fallen down over one shoulder and he didn’t look like he was in the mood to keep going.

Beside Junpei, Akane had her head in her hands. “It’s been so long… I have a headache,” she laughed. “I never used to get them.”

“Right. I’m taking a break,” Aoi announced before getting up, fishing something off of the couch arm—a pack of cigarettes—and heading for the back patio. 

Junpei, intrigued, followed him. He found Aoi outside by the glow of his cigarette; damn he was fast. The night was quiet.

“What did you see?” Junpei asked.

“Go away.”

“Aoi. Just tell me, please.”

“That history you say you’re from. Where I’m…” He shook his head. “I see why you want to go back. I’m awesome,” he joked weakly. “Rich and a good-looking son of a bitch.” The glowing ember in his hand shook, light bouncing in the dark.

“Right. You’re a joy,” Junpei said, sitting in the spare chair beside the patio table. They didn’t have this in his history because they were never still long enough to lounge around the yard.

“Junpei?”

“Hm?”

“Why did you pick me instead?”

Junpei shrugged. “Because I was stupid.”

Aoi laughed, a bark. “About right. But still, not to rub it in or whatever, but even though I wouldn’t choose this life for Akane, it’s been a good one. I know why you want to go home.”

“So help me go back.” He told Aoi what the other Akane had suggested, and Aoi paused.

“Will it change my life?”

“I don’t think so.”

“What is the other you like?”

“I think...still loyal to Free the Soul, even if he wants to go. You’ll want to do this far away from here.”

“Done. We’ll go tomorrow.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s not because I want to help you, I just want you to go away.” Aoi stood up, stubbed his cigarette out in an ashtray, and straightened his clothes. “The sooner you’re gone the sooner things go back to normal.”

“I’ll take it.”

**

Tanaka drove them out to a safehouse Junpei remembered; it was in the desert and a falling down sort of place, but it would do for what they wanted. That way the new Junpei wouldn’t know where they lived and he could be subdued easily if they had to. Junpei had warned them his old self might be loyal to Free the Soul and could try to turn them in, as Akane predicted.

“Be careful,” Tanaka told them before they got out of the car. He was the getaway driver.

Akane leaned over and made a kissing noise near his cheek; he grumbled but patted her head.

Going inside, Junpei saw this, at least, was much the same as he remembered. They’d hidden here once when they pissed off a client and had to wait out the heat. He remembered toward the end they’d run out of most food and were eating MREs that Akane bought when she went through a doomsday prepping phase.

Junpei had to wipe off a layer of dust to sit down at the table, but Aoi seemed to mind it more and procured a cloth to wipe the whole thing down, down to the legs.

They sat down again, took hands, and prepared to leap.

Junpei felt the same as last time, taking a deep breath before diving into the cold water.

‘Bye,’ he thought, hoping this great Akane heard it.

His foot slipped, mentally, and before long he felt swept away again.

**

“Junpei? Are you listening to me?”

Junpei snapped awake, for the second time, and knew something was wrong. Before him was not Akane, nor Aoi or Tanaka, but someone he recognized from childhood.

Light looked annoyed, arms crossed and sighing as he said, “Am I boring you now?”

“What, no, no, I’m just...distracted.”

This was wrong. Again. Here he was in his box room in C Ward, in a Free the Soul robe, without his family. He swallowed, feeling bile rise in his chest. He willed himself not to have an attack; he felt it not working.

“Or do you not want to talk?” Light said, putting a hand on Junpei’s shoulder and leaning in, lips brushing his ear.

Junpei startled away from him, pressing himself against the wall behind him and exclaiming, “What the hell?!”

“If you insist, maybe I should go.”

“Yes, maybe you should!” Junpei really needed him to go so he could freak out in peace. What the Hell had he done wrong now?

Light stood. “Call me when you decide what you want,” he said, and left.

Junpei slumped down again, his foot still up where he’d been using it to push Light away. He had to find out what had changed about this reality, and he had to find his people and escape. He hoped Akane wasn’t still with the cult. 

He took a deep breath, tried to gather himself, and took in his surroundings. The same bed, narrow walls, paperback books on the shelf (mysteries and adventure stories). Spare robes hanging from the door. There was nothing of Junpei in the room.

He got up, determined to go out and get his answers.

He drifted through the halls, empty as people had dispersed to meetings, eat, quietly sit in their rooms. The clocks said it was after 7pm. Junpei passed all of the clocks with the distinct feeling they were counting down towards something, be it his entrapment or freedom. 

His first question to a passerby was a simple, innocuous one: “Have you seen Akane?” When that elicited a blank reaction, he tried, “Aoi?” and then “Kurashiki?”

“Are you lost?” they said, and Junpei waved them off and sarcastically thanked them for their time.

The two others he asked had similar reactions, and he was grateful when he bumped into Diana, coming out of a meeting with a few people in lab coats. She was wearing casual clothing, but still with Free the Soul insignia stitched above her breastbone.

“Junpei!” She leaned in to give him a hug. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in years, Mr. Big Shot.”

Junpei decided not to press that line of questioning, instead saying, “Hey, have you seen Akane and Aoi?”

Diana looked uncomfortable for a moment, before shaking her head. “Nobody’s seen them in a while, Junpei.” She gave a self-deprecating smile. “They’re too important for this little base.”

“What do you mean?”

Diana looked at him strangely before saying, uncertainly, “They’ve been away for years; if the gossips are right they’ve been working directly under Brother, but I don’t know if I believe that.”

“How do I get to Brother?”

“How do you meet God?” she joked. “It’s not going to happen, so—”

“I have to see them.”

She nodded sympathetically. “It must be hard. I know you and Akane were really close. Why don’t we get a drink, huh?” She smiled. “I know I’m not Akane, but I still think we can have fun.”

“I don’t want a drink! I want to see her!”

“Junpei,” she said, putting a hand on his arm, “you’re making a scene.”

“Good! Hey, everyone—”

“Junpei!” she said, sterner, and gripped his arm now. “Don’t do this here. Come with me.”

He reluctantly followed Diana down a series of hallways, headed further into the ward it looked like, until they arrived at a small room with a few tables and a vending machine that was half-empty. She made him sit down, bought a bag of salted popcorn, and shook some out into his palm.

“Eat,” she said, so he did. The popcorn was delicious but not comforting, like the chocolate hadn’t been. “I know you miss Akane, but she’s gone. She left us. But I’m still here. Light and Clover are still here.”

“What about Phi and Sigma?”

Diana looked stricken for a moment. “Don’t mention Phi and Sigma, come on, you know that.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re traitors,” she said, looking like she didn’t believe it.

Her expression and half-hearted reasoning told him everything he needed to know. While she hadn’t chosen him, she had chosen them. “And something tells me you’re lucky to be standing here.”

Diana sighed. “What’s really wrong, Junpei? I don’t have the energy for this today.”

“It just occurred to me that I don’t belong here is all.”

“Well, you are here. What are you going to do about it?” She looked at him sadly. “Please don’t let the answer be ‘Run away.’”

“Have I ever tried to?” He sounded bitter to his own ears.

Diana looked torn before saying, “I guess you haven’t yet.”

Junpei knew it. He hated this Junpei.

He sighed. “What do I do now?” he asked the air more than Diana.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

**

The answer was a whole lot of nothing. He walked through days there, letting his brain of this timeline seep in and fill in blanks of what he was supposed to do, who to talk to and how. He showed deference and gritted teeth and shook hands and felt like an absolute asshole. Diana’s plea that he survive stayed in his mind.

He used the computer but couldn’t find any evidence of Tanaka; by his design, Junpei was sure. If none of the trio had escaped Free the Soul, he likely didn’t have anything to do with them. His hunch was confirmed when he looked up Phi and Sigma and saw them listed as written-off assets, having escaped an education years ago when they were still just teenagers.

Junpei was effectively alone, lost, with no idea how to begin getting back to his time. He metaphorically beat the walls, he meditated, he tried to access the fieldset alone, but without the boost of a more powerful esper he was lost. He couldn’t explain himself to the Fields and since his mortifying encounter with Light, the other had avoided him.

He swore to himself he was down but not out; he would find his own way out, and then he’d find other espers, and then he’d—

He was so tired.

So very tired.

He started to sleep when he wasn’t working collecting data on the soon-to-be-missing kids. The day for their capture was coming and he wasn’t strong enough to stop it all by himself. He slept to forget and to pass the time and to dodge constant fantasies of the Kurashikis and Tanaka only to replace them with dreams of Akane always just out of his reach. She kept walking without looking back at him, on a path only she could see through to the end.

Junpei wouldn’t despair.

And then came the day Diana woke him up and said, “Akane is coming,” with a big self-satisfied smile.

“What?”

“I just heard from a higher-up in a meeting. She’s coming with her brother to supervise the final touches on the plan.”

‘The Plan’ referred to the children, of course, and Junpei knew he should care about that but it was overridden by the fact that Akane would be here. Akane was back! Everything would be okay!

“When?” His voice trembled.

“Tomorrow.”

He didn’t sleep all night leading up to it; he hadn’t been invited to any special meetings so he’d have to find her another way.

The next morning he jumped out of bed, smoothed down what seemed to be his best clothes, and straightened his hair. Any Akane would recognize him, he was sure. He had to be ready to see her, convince her to help him get out of here seeing she was the strongest esper he knew, and be ready to go home.

He wandered the halls, skipping his own work shift with a younger operative, and peered around corners and into rooms looking for Akane. He heard a hubbub near the biggest conference room and raced there to find a gathering.

Akane was flanked by people wearing gold bars on their clothes announcing they were of higher status than Junpei. Wearing the robes and standing straight she looked like a poised, confident member of the cult. She was chatting amiably with someone asking her how her trip had been; her brother stood behind her in deference. Her hair was gathered over one shoulder in a dignified style.

Junpei’s heart hurt. The air turned liquid and it felt like reality clicked into place like a combination lock closing. Looking at her, everything felt right again. He knew he was out of place and out of line approaching her, but he had to.

He took a step towards her, said her name, and she looked at him with no recognition in her eyes at first, before she said a hesitant, “Junpei?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Akane—”

She gave a thin smile. “I’m sorry, I’m a little busy. Can I meet you later?”

“What? I—yeah. Sure. When?”

Akane gave him a clear-cut time and he retreated, wounded that she hadn’t immediately made time for him. He supposed she was busy, it made sense, but something inside nagged him that he should be more upset, that he should’ve made a scene. But Junpei stifled that voice in his head quickly.

Stepping back, Junpei felt like maybe she had a point. There was work to be done, after all. He turned and went towards where he knew he was needed.


	12. Chapter 12

Akane’s temporary study had a grandmother clock that distracted Junpei when he entered. He had a headache and focused on the moving pendulum behind the glass, following it with his eyes to take his mind off of the ache. When Akane stepped into his line of sight, he was almost sad about it.

“Junpei, it’s so good to see you,” she repeated, assuming he hadn’t heard her as opposed to not knowing how to dig his mind up long enough to respond. “How have you been?”

“Fine…” he said, voice drifting like wood on the sea. He looked to the clock again, mindful that he must not have much time with Akane. She’d had to push away last-minute questions and further visitors who’d tried to interrupt her and Junpei’s meeting. “Working. For your plan, I mean. I’m the scout watching the kids in Japan.” The words fell off his tongue like stones. A feeling—guilt—nagged at him. He shoved it in a mental drawer.

“Thank you, but it’s hardly just my plan.” Her smile was gentle yet proud. “Brother’s vision has been an honor to work on. I feel lucky to be here.”

“You shouldn’t. I mean, I’m not surprised you’re there.” And he was here. Why hadn’t he been good enough, he wanted to ask, to stay by her side? Did she fight to have him? A sudden memory told him she’d cried but had been unable to convince them not to remove her from the class that one awful day, the worst of many because on that day he’d lost all hope to continue fighting.

Akane shook her head. “Not alone. Maybe someday you could meet a few people who are very important to me.”

People who were important to her; who could that be? He pictured powerful members of Free the Soul, all respecting her and deferring to her vision surely as they did Brother’s. Or maybe she wasn’t as important as he thought, but she was still trusted with Brother’s vision.

Junpei changed the subject, wanting to avoid thinking about Akane-in-Free-the-Soul. “Right, how’s your brother?”

“Fine, but it’s not just my brother who’s important.”

“Who then?”

“You’ll see.” Keeping the information to herself seemed to amuse her.

Junpei asked, “Is it hard, working for Brother?” He too technically worked for Brother but Junpei couldn’t remember ever meeting him. He couldn’t imagine Akane deferring to anyone.

“No. I feel…chosen.”

“And humble.”

Akane laughed. “More than you know.” She looked at him as if expecting more questions and she was eager to answer them. She was proud of her work; it wafted off of her like strong perfume.

Watching her, Junpei felt torn. There was a name. There was a face he should’ve remembered and it pawed at him for attention and he shoved it aside. Akane was here and he’d wanted Akane hadn’t he?

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Well…” She said, putting a finger to her chin. “I could use your help with one thing.”

“What?”

“Come to the school with me.”

That struck a sharp, discordant note within him; it screamed that it was wrong, and he knew it. 

“Why?”

“Because you’ve done it before, and you’d be a wonderful example to the new students. True, you aren’t the strongest esper there is, but you don’t have to be to guide them.”

So he was a pacifier for terrified children, taken from everything they knew. Junpei chilled, his voice joining suit, “How can I do that?”

“For me?” she tried. “The plan is going forward with or without you, Junpei. You can join us and be of use or you can shuttle on to the next nothing mission where you’re not using your talents.”

That stung. He hadn’t chosen to be the dud esper, relegated to fieldwork nobody else wanted. “It’s not right.”

Akane put a hand on his shoulder. “Look at your friends; everyone adjusted and are productive members now.”

“Except for Phi and Sigma.”

“They don’t count. They left.”

“Exactly.” Junpei jerked away from her.

“Junpei, I’m not your enemy,” she said gently, reaching for him again. “I’ve looked for you for so long.” Her voice dipped, though her sadness looked affected.

Junpei held his breath at that. He knew he’d wanted to hear it, but he wasn’t prepared for how it surged through him, his body and mind wanting to rush to meet Akane’s.

“I came here by Brother’s order, but I also came for you,” she continued. “I need you.”

Junpei almost fell to his knees right there; his body wanted to give in and be touched again by Akane and her need. His belief in his obligation to her had never gone away, and here she was asking that he make good on that unspoken promise made as children, when he couldn’t understand what she might ask of him one day.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Akane sighed. “Maybe if you met them, you would see the world as I do. We’re teaching them to be the next step of humanity, Junpei. Only people like us—“

“You just said I’m not like you.” She didn’t need to know about the SHIFTing.

“But you were raised like one. You’ll be their role model. You’ll teach them to be strong, like you.”

“And how to follow orders,” he said. “You could replace me with anyone we grew up with.”

“But I want you.”

“…If I met these people, would you stop asking me for this?” And oh he wanted to say yes, he felt himself about to say yes no matter what.

The face, the name—who was it again?

_Junpei?_

“Junpei,” Akane said. “Yes.” She clasped her hands in front of her chest. “It would mean so much to me.”

“Then introduce us.”

**

Diana seemed bothered by the idea when he told her; she’d come by his room after the meeting, hovering like she wanted to pry, so pry she did:

“Are you sure this is a good idea? She’s been away a long time.”

Junpei kept picking at his clothing; he had so much variety to choose from, after all. Nondescript clothes he wore for missions, designed to make him as bland as possible. He picked up a beige shirt and frowned at it, thinking it looked like something an accountant would wear. 

“She seems sincere, and she’s…not dangerous,” he settled on. He didn’t think so anyway. “Weren’t you the one telling me to forget about the Kurashikis? She didn’t forget about me.”

“She could’ve just been saying that when you refused to help her—“

“Will you drop it?” Junpei said sternly, turning to her. “I don’t remember asking for your advice.”

Diana twisted her hands together in front of her, in a gesture he had seen her do only once before, when she was pleading for him not to be punished for a major infraction. He’d tried to escape once, when he was bolder. 

“Junpei, I don’t think she’s the person you remember. She doesn’t have to be dangerous to hurt you, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“It’s too late for that. If you didn’t want that you should’ve picked me,” he said, words weighted by the names and faces they’d known. “But you said it yourself: you’re a coward. That’s why you’re too afraid to face her and I’m not.”

“I—I am—“ Diana sniffed but in her eyes was anger, not tears. She made her hands into fists instead. “Fine. But when she spits you out, know that I’m still going to be here.”

“No you won’t,” he said, remembering her hugging him and then saying she didn’t want him. When had that happened? Phi and Sigma had been there, but older, and he’d never met Phi and Sigma again after they left…

Diana slammed the door when she left.

Junpei had a headache again.

**

Aoi picked him up in the morning, knocking on his door with sharp raps. “You ready?”

“Sure,” Junpei said, steadying his bag around him. Akane had said to prepare to be away for a week and he hadn’t had much to bring with him, besides sneaking in a mystery book he hadn’t finished reading.

Aoi walked ahead of him, to the point where Junpei wondered if Aoi didn’t want to be seen with him. People who recognized Aoi acknowledged him and he just waved them off.

Stepping out into the sun made Junpei realize how long it had been; the heat weighed his lungs down and he squinted in the light. He got into a running car and was greeted with air conditioning.

“What do you do anyway?” Junpei asked, before realizing the answer was stocks. Aoi must’ve told him at some point.

Aoi confirmed that, rambling for some time about how that trickled down through the organization, and Junpei tuned it out after a minute. When he didn’t hear Aoi’s voice anymore, he said, “Uh-huh.”

“Lately I’ve been busy with Akane, though.”

Akane was enough to keep anybody busy. “Do you think her plan is worth it?”

“It’s our plan,” Aoi corrected, “but yeah. All I can do is support her.”

“Who are these people?”

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll like them.” That wasn’t much of an answer but Aoi didn’t budge.

They drove for over an hour until they arrived at a little house in the desert. Getting out of the car, Junpei saw a tall chain link fence and through it some people gathered in a side yard. He couldn’t tell at first if Akane was among them, before realizing she was and just had her back turned to him. 

As he approached the fence, he watched her toss a ball to someone else, and with a start he realized her company wasn’t just very short: they were children. Three of them in play clothes, boy, girl, and girl, all different ages but still energetic. Akane couldn’t play too well in her dress, so they ran literal circles around her, kicking the ball back and forth and teasing her.

Akane noticed him and called his name, and Aoi let him in through a locked gate. The children hung back, clustered together and watching Junpei with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. The boy looked the oldest and he seemed displeased with Junpei’s presence, glowering at him from behind Akane. 

“Come on,” Akane beckoned, but they didn’t come closer so she went to them. “This is Midori, she’s nine,” Akane said, bending over and holding the littlest girl still by her shoulders; she wiggled away like seaweed. Akane gestured to the middle child, “This is Koharu, she’s twelve. And that’s Atsuro, he’s fourteen.”

Atsuro crossed his arms before looking Junpei up and down and saying, “What do you want with Miss Akane?”

“Atsuro,” Akane chided with a laugh. “He’s very smart, just a liiiittle—” She ruffled his hair. “Stubborn.”

Atsuro kept the littlest one, Midori, from going to Junpei when she tried to move. Koharu, the elder girl, looked to Atsuro to decide what to do before, at Akane’s repeated encouragement, going up to shyly shake Junpei’s hand and then retreating to Atsuro’s side. They didn’t look alike, any of them. Atsuro carried himself like their older brother, always keeping himself between Junpei and the girls.

"Are they...yours?" Junpei asked. Behind him, Aoi snorted and Junpei rolled his eyes. Akane was too young to have a biological teenage child, after all. By his recollection and math, he’d last seen Akane at age fifteen and now she was around twenty-two, so even Midori was too old for that by several years.

Akane shook her head. "No, I’ve been their teacher for the past three years. They were born to members of Free the Soul and had strong results on the Ganzfield test."

Junpei nodded. "I see."

"They're going to attend the school," she continued. "They're going to be our prime examples to the other children."

Akane smiled and Koharu copied her, revealing crooked front teeth that displayed her youth. She fully believed in what Akane and Free the Soul told her, in a way Junpei never had. Junpei looked at her full smile and wondered if he'd ever faked one to get the teachers off his back.

"Miss Akane is the best!" Midori said. She went to Akane and took her hand. "She gives us candy and is teaching us to be heroes."

Junpei nodded. "I guess she is."

The girls were excited to show him what they knew; Akane said to wait while they got to know him, while Aoi wrestled Midori into a hug. She giggled.

Junpei stumbled through joining their soccer game. Atsuro played rough with him, nothing but elbows and body checks until Akane scolded him, and he sulked. After that they settled long enough for lunch and then reading about theories of time. Akane looked at them with warmth.

"Is this the right thing?" Junpei asked her quietly that night, and she stared at him with surprise.

"They want this," she said. "They're excited to continue their education."

"How can they know what they want if you've never offered them anything else?" he said despite the little voice telling him not to protest. Akane knew best. His head hurt. When he went to touch his temple, Akane took his hand. 

She smiled on him and he felt his brain churn.

Everything would be fine.

**

Junpei spent a few more days with the kids and Kurashikis. There was a minder on site to take care of the childrens’ physical needs, but the Kurashikis spent the most time with them now that they’d returned home. Junpei watched how they were together, jovial and gentle, and watched the kids learn. They were so much more cooperative than his class had been, never having to be bullied into compliance. They were excitable and intelligent, teasing like siblings and bragging about themselves but also each other.

“Atsuro-niichan is the best at this,” Koharu said during a meditation lesson, and Midori animatedly nodded behind her. Atusro, ever a teenager, looked both glad and embarrassed to be singled out even though it was for a positive reason.

“I see,” Junpei said.

Koharu kept talking (she was very fond of her own voice), but Junpei tuned her out, focusing instead on making eye contact with Aoi who was trying to get Midori to sit still. She was more interested in draping herself over his shoulders, climbing into his lap, and pinching him when he resisted. Aoi took it all in stride and gently pinched her back, chuckling at her ‘You can’t do that!

When Aoi noticed Junpei looking at him, he held his gaze for a moment before quickly averting his eyes. Aoi was the one to watch.’

During a break, Junpei got Aoi alone in a corner of the den they used as a classroom. Behind them the kids were bickering about how to spend the free time. Somebody wanted to pitch baseballs, another wanted to watch a short cartoon; Junpei vaguely recalled similar arguments back when he was a kid. He noted the trio had no interest in going beyond the fence outside.

"What if the kids you take aren't like them? Junpei asked Aoi.

Aoi looked away from him, putting his hands in his pockets. "They'll learn. We were the first generation and nobody knew what they were doing. Of course they made mistakes."

Humiliating and isolating kids when they didn't fall in line was not a mistake, Junpei wanted to say but he couldn't find his voice when Akane entered the room. Could Aoi ever do that to Midori? Junpei turned away without looking for the answer. He didn’t want to hear the obvious.

"It's all so exciting, Akane said later that night. "I can't wait."

"They'll really be heroes?" Junpei said, raising an eyebrow. They were supposed to be eating after the kids had been sent to bed, but Akane had chattered the entire time about the facility, her lesson plans, and how thrilled she was that Junpei had come to meet her students.

"Yes! Humanity is evolving in anticipation of the world changing. Brother said." She talked about Brother like the kids talked about her. "I'll never let anyone take their purpose away from them."

Junpei was afraid she would say that. 

Akane continued, "We were disappointing in the end, but they don't have to be."

"You obviously weren't a disappointment."

"That's very kind," she said, looking unconvinced. "But they'll be better, you'll see. If you come with me."

"How can I do that?"

"They're going to need someone like you to show them how good Free the Soul can be."

Junpei's memories filtered in, saying he always knew home was better, and at some point he'd simply given up escaping. He didn't believe what she said. But still he didn't want to disappoint her.

"I'll think about it," he said to avoid her pushing the subject. 

"Please Junpei," she said, grabbing his hand. "I want you there more than anything." Her eyes were dead serious.

 _Come back to me,_ that voice said again. It sounded like Akane, but it didn't.

**

He lost track of time there; he knew he should go back to work but Akane always convinced him to stay just a little longer. Aoi said he could be useful, and after sitting in on their sessions for a while Junpei started to join them.

"Good," he told Koharu when she successfully guessed the shape on the flashcard he held with the answer facing away from her. Akane sat beside him, transmitting the image of the diamond printed on the card, and it was Koharu’s job to receive it. Sometimes Aoi would go to the opposite end of their little house and it was the kids’ job to transmit the answer to a logic problem, a figure, or a thought. They worked on remote viewing, and they tried to connect with complete strangers on opposite ends of the world. 

Junpei had to admit they were more advanced than he’d ever been. While he’d never looked at his own file, he guessed he’d been brought in as a control subject as a way to measure the born espers against a ‘normal’ person. From Akane’s description of the school, Free the Soul had no use for control subjects this time around.

Koharu beamed; she always took it the hardest when she made mistakes, no matter how they comforted her. "But I'm going to be the role model," she'd complain, and no child should have to worry about that, Junpei thought. 

He'd started to note weak points in the house's security, racking his brain for who he knew that would help him rescue and hide the children. His answers were sparse and the time to transfer them to the facility drew near.

"Take a break," Akane told Koharu, "Wait ten minutes and send in Atsuro."

Obediently, Koharu stood and left the room. 

While they were alone Akane turned to him and said, "Aren't they wonderful?" like she was still trying to convince him.

Junpei nodded to make her be quiet. "How did you get involved with this?"

"Brother asked me to. He said he knew where they'd gone wrong the first time: they weren't patient enough, they started too big with children not of Free the Soul just because they had the most potential out of everyone they tested. They crushed that potential by accident, and it's no surprise we shut down. 

He said that now that they’ve learned from us, we can change everything. So I've been teaching the three children we started with."

Akane was so good to them, he thought, but. But. Nobody should go through what he had and Junpei didn't know how much longer he could play along. 

"What if they grow up and decide they don't want this?"

Akane was unphased by his doubting tone. "Then they'll become like you: scouts, spies, spiritual leaders. There's always business and politics, too, like what niichan does."

"I mean if they want out.”

"When we're through with educating them, there's no way they'll want out."

Junpei froze.

Akane didn’t notice and said, "After all, did you go?”

Junpei knew one thing then: Diana was not the only coward. He protested, "I was never given a choice. Neither were you."

Akane touched his face and his skin burned. "Oh, Junpei. You were given the best opportunity in the world. You didn't need anything else."

Junpei knew another thing: this was not his Akane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akane the Good Bad Mom was one of the best things to come out of VLR, hence scary cultist mom Akane. SOMEDAY POOR JUNPEI WILL GET HOME.


	13. Chapter 13

Time passed; Junpei lost track of how much time. He read to the kids from scientific textbooks and the canon, played Hide and Seek, and wondered at their abilities. He comforted them over scraped knees from rough play and tolerated the occasional (or more from Atsuro) lip. They were so curious to him, how eager they were to be useful and adored at the same time, how childlike they still were with need and fears, and their devotion to ‘Miss Akane’ and her cause.

But he had to know one thing. His resistance to Akane grew thinner, his arguments less fervent as it settled in that the kids really liked being the way they were. But still... 

One day after breakfast, Junpei asked Atsuro if he ever wanted to leave, even for a little bit.

Atsuro looked at him wide-eyed. “I don’t want to go. I want to stay with Miss Akane.” Poor Mr. Aoi never garnered the same adoration, except from Midori who always wanted to sit next to him and hog his attention.

“What about your parents?” Who weren’t much better than the other cultists, if they’d given up their son, but. Details.

“Well, yeah,” Atsuro muttered, “I miss them. But they understand what I’m doing here. They want it for me.” He squinted at the floor, avoiding Junpei’s steady gaze.

Junpei tried to touch him but Atsuro repulsed him. “What about what you want?”

“I want this! Leave me alone about it!”

“Is everything okay here?” Aoi said as he entered the room; Junpei hadn’t heard him coming.

“This guy won’t leave me alone!” Atsuro went to stand behind Aoi, still a child after all.

“I asked him a question,” Junpei grumbled.

Aoi glared. “Well drop it.”

Junpei was forced to; Atsuro smirked from behind Aoi.

**

Junpei woke because someone was crying. He got up and headed to the kids' rooms. He poked his head into the location of the crying and found Midori sniffling in Aoi's lap, Akane kneeling on the floor in front of her.

"Oh honey," she crooned, "did you have another nightmare?"

"I don't wanna see it anymore!" Midori cried. Junpei remembered Akane and the stronger kids having ‘nightmares’ like this, really visions of violence going on elsewhere in the world. They’d always been praised for their strength when it happened. It was twisted to him even as a kid.

Aoi started to rock her. He didn't say anything to back up Akane's gentle protest that sometimes Midori’s power made her see scary things about the world, but she was strong enough to change it someday. Until then she had to be strong and she had her friends with her.

Junpei was reminded of the little girl who'd also cried the first time she witnessed random violence like that. He remembered the blood of rabbits and their little bodies. That Akane was trapped surely as they were, only she didn't believe it, and was content to perpetuate the cycle.

'I can't let you do this again,' he thought, and Akane looked back at him with watchful eyes, like she'd heard every word.

Junpei shrugged at her and left the room, sensing he wasn’t wanted there. Akane caught up to him as he sat outside on the side patio. 

"Junpei," she said, "if you're a threat to my children, my plan, I will find out."

Feeling angered by seeing Midori cry and emboldened by knowing he was in the right, he said, "And then what? You'll kill me?"

"No, I could never do that." She rested a hand on her hip and that alone looked like a threat. “But—”

"That's enough," Aoi said, emerging from behind the doorway. "Let me talk to him."

Akane tossed her brother a look but left, stalking back inside like a lioness irritated she’d been denied her chase.

Once alone, Aoi crossed his arms and said, "I heard your thought, so don't lie. Look, I'll support my sister through anything."

Junpei scoffed. “Oh good, you’ve come to threaten me too.”

“Calm down.” Aoi looked into the middle distance instead of at Junpei. “I’d do anything for my sister,” he repeated, more to himself than to anyone else.

“And?”

“Including this,” Aoi said quietly. “You don’t have to.”

“Huh?”

Aoi shook his head and went back inside.

**

Junpei first heard her voice in the kitchen, watching Akane prepare tea for teatime.

Another Akane was talking to him.

_Junpei? Where are you?_ this Akane asked.

Junpei considered the Akane in front of him, still busy at the stove, and he sent back, _I don’t know._ This other Akane was sad, he felt, and needed him to come back but he didn’t know how.

_Niichan is gone. Come home,_ she pleaded.

_I’m sorry,_ he thought, dazed, just as the flesh and blood Akane returned from the stove and bumped her shoulder into his. A forceful mental shove rocked his brain, pushing the other Akane out of it with a sharp click.

“What are you thinking about?” She looked at him, curious but also examining. The tea kettle started to whistle like a warning, but he couldn’t parse it.

“Nothing,” he said, going to the sink and starting the water. Junpei looked at his hand under the running water. It was hot and he ran his hand under it until his skin reddened. When he did this he felt like he could almost remember what was dogging him. What that other Akane needed, and how to get back to her. She was fading, and the harder he tried to hold on to her the faster she slipped away.

“Oh, Junpei,” Akane sighed when she noticed him. She took his hand, turned the knobs, and put his hand back under lukewarm water. “What are we going to do with you?” she teased.

He remembered Diana saying that once, after he woke up in the infirmary after being punished for another infraction. He was...sixteen? Maybe. He’d had his fingers broken and Diana kissed his cast. He was furious with himself and the world.

Now he wasn’t angry as Akane wrapped his hand in a cool washcloth, said, “You burned yourself, silly.”

“I almost remembered something,” he said. Akane? But Akane was right there…

The shove again, and—

“Look to the future,” Akane chided. “Think of the children.”

Numbness blanketed Junpei’s mind. Akane was right there. No need to worry. “I guess you’re right.”

**

“Tell me where you are,” Diana demanded over the phone. “Let me come get you.”

“I don’t need to be picked up,” he protested. “I’m fine here.”

“Did you know Akane had you reassigned? I heard from Clover that you’re not a scout anymore, that you’re supposed to help conduct their experiment now.”

Hm. He blinked and the information didn’t sink in still. That made sense to him, that Akane wanted him close after she’d gone to all the trouble to introduce him to her precious students. She’d said he could be of use, and more and more he wanted to be. “So?”

“So? Junpei, she’s brainwashing you.”

“No more than anyone else did,” he said, and hung up the phone. 

Akane knew what she was doing. Akane could be trusted.

**

“Mr. Junpei,” Koharu said, pulling on his hand for attention. “I have a secret.”

“What?”

“I miss my mom and dad.”

As much as Junpei hurt for her, he felt a need to inspire her, too. “I know, but they understand you’ve got a bigger—”

“Purpose, I know.” She pouted. “I still miss them.”

Junpei felt someone come up behind him. Akane.

“What’s going on?” she asked in a friendly tone, but Koharu wouldn’t tell, instead mumbling that her stomach hurt.

Despite Akane’s best efforts to keep everyone open, the kids could be secretive, whispering to each other when they thought they were alone, though Junpei didn’t know about what. The girls would look to Atsuro sometimes before speaking and then say, “Nothing,” if he shook his head. Usually the topic they stayed silent on was the school; they were either exuberant about the upcoming experience, or they were withdrawn.

“You don’t have to be scared,” Akane said another time, bending over and putting her hands on Midori’s shoulders.

“I’m not,” she said. “I’m gonna be the best one there because I’m your student.” She didn’t meet Akane’s eyes, her expectant expression.

“That’s right,” Aoi said behind Midori, taking her from Akane and lifting her into his arms, making her giggle.

Junpei watched; Junpei listened. That nagging feeling was back, the one that reminded him he wanted to do something here, but now he couldn’t recall what.

That night he lay in bed for too long before getting up. In the hallway, he heard soft sniffing coming from the kids’ direction again but then Aoi’s comforting voice followed. Junpei nodded to himself and decided not to go right away; the kids were more comfortable with Aoi even if they found Junpei fascinating (or aggravating in Atsuro’s case).

He sat outside in the yard. He thought about the morphic Akane who’d reached out to him. He felt bad for her, but who was she to him again? He couldn’t leave the Akane of this current history until she had seen her plan through and he did...

He did what? He sat awake for an hour trying to remember what it was he needed to do here. Why it was important that Aoi was gone in that other history. What had happened to send him here.

Why he didn’t care so much anymore about if what he was doing was wrong.

**

“Junpei,” Diana begged again. She wouldn’t stop calling and he’d picked up this time to tell her to leave him alone. Akane was taking good care of him and she wasn’t the person Diana said she was. Even Aoi was warming up to him and the two cooked dinner for the kids in the evening, fried rice and omelettes and mild curry for their childish palates.

“I’m fine,” he said. “Stop calling me.”

Diana sniffled into the phone. “I’m just worried about you. You’d never do this to kids.”

“They’re going to be heroes,” he said, echoing Akane’s persistent speech. “They don’t need anything else.”

“You idiot—”

He hung up.

**

Akane told him one day to be on his best behavior because someone important was coming to examine the children before they were transferred to the school. Junpei agreed, because his protests had long died on his lips, now seeing the world and their purpose as she did after many long talks and seeing how excited the kids were even if they were nervous too.

As an unfamiliar car pulled up to the house, Junpei watched from a window. Akane went out to greet a very old man who still moved with vigor, and he gave her a one-armed embrace when they met. Aoi stood to the side of them, watching, but the old man didn’t do more than lift a hand in Aoi’s direction.

They headed inside and the kids were lined up, squirming a little under the stranger’s gaze.

With great excitement and pride, Akane introduced the man as Brother. Junpei had never met Brother before; he only knew Brother was very wise, saw into the hearts of men, and found humanity wanting so he decided he would change the world. 

The kids did their best on his tests and he was inscrutable as he watched them. He approved of them in the end, he said, and Junpei was proud as he knew he’d drilled them for hours the days before. Atsuro was the most impressive student and he smiled into his collar when Brother said, once, “Very good.”

“You always were the most promising, Akane,” Brother said. He didn’t acknowledge Aoi, who didn’t acknowledge him either. “Excellent job.”

“I won’t disappoint you at the school,” she said eagerly.

“I know you won’t. Who is this?” he said when he saw Junpei.

“He’s the last-minute assignment; he’s a very good mentor.”

“I trust your judgment.” Brother looked at everyone as if he was still deciding if they’d disappoint him, except for Akane. He looked at Junpei for a long time and Junpei had the distinct feeling that he wouldn’t pass inspection. “Go play, children,” he dismissed them and they hurried to leave the room. Brother turned to Akane and began to speak with her at length, waving Aoi and Junpei off.

They went to the kids, letting them watch a movie for their successful performance; they picked a children’s film they’d watched a dozen times before. Atsuro honestly looked bored during it but he always wanted to please the girls.

“Can we go outside?” he finally asked, and Aoi granted permission, giving them their favorite soccer ball. He didn’t move to interrupt Akane’s meeting, so he and Junpei were stuck with each other.

“What’s he like?” Junpei asked, meaning Brother. The meeting was underwhelming; he’d expected someone with more gravitas, who said cryptic and meaningful things all the time. If Junpei ever decided to talk to Diana again, he’d have to tell her he met God and God was boring.

Aoi took a moment to think before settling on, “Very stern. Total buzzkill. He’s never satisfied, but I guess that makes him good at his job.” Aoi’s tone was careful, but his words were less so. “Adores Akane, she can’t do anything wrong by him.”

“I guess that makes two of you,” Junpei said.

“Don’t compare us.” Aoi suddenly looked chastened, like he knew he said something he shouldn’t have. He glanced around as if looking for the walls’ ears. “Brother is a noble and caring leader, happy?”

Junpei pondered the demands that Brother must’ve made of the minders and scientists who’d dominated Junpei’s time in school: results at any cost. And to make it happen they’d isolated, taunted, and tortured kids. ‘Noble and caring’ didn’t fit that image, and Aoi knew it. Junpei bit back his flaring, fiery resentment.

Akane was not Brother’s image, he told himself. She wasn’t. Akane was kind and optimistic and mischievous and intelligent, and though she could be strict she would never advocate hurting her kids.

They played with the kids until Akane was finally ready, and when she returned she looked worried. 

“What did he say?” Junpei asked, but she only shook her head.

Brother didn’t stay long before his entourage shuffled him away to his next task. The kids still looked nervous long after he left.

Akane didn’t tell Junpei what happened until later that night, sitting cross legged in bed with him.

“Brother says we might have a delay in the project,” she said. “He thinks a group called SOIS is on to it and will interfere, so we may have to move everyone.” She sighed and said, exasperated, “Why can’t they just leave us alone? We’re doing more for the world than they are!”

Junpei realized that he was familiar with SOIS in this world. He had dodged the group several times, avoiding capture on scouting missions and coming across their agents while he was spying. He’d once helped obtain information from an agent Free the Soul had captured; he didn’t think about what happened to them after that. The original Junpei of this history was a man of many contradictions.

Junpei reached out and stroked Akane’s hair unbidden. “It’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes I do, because it’s you.”

She smiled, rueful. “You’re laying it on very thick.”

“It’s true.”

**

Akane announced the next day that they were moving the children to a new home; it was time for them to rejoin Free the Soul, at the same base Junpei had come from. Akane, Aoi, and Junpei would still be with them, she promised, so not to worry. Koharu visibly relaxed at the promise that Junpei would be coming; Junpei nudged her shoulder with his elbow, teasing.

“Can we see our parents?” Koharu asked shyly, and frowned when Akane said not yet. “I really want my mom, Miss Akane,” she said like she could bargain her way through Akane’s will.

“You have your friends,” Akane said crisply, like a teacher with her patience worn down.

Koharu bit her lip but didn’t argue.

Junpei said, “They’re really proud of you.”

“I know…”

“Are the people there nice, Mr. Aoi?” Midori asked.

“They’ll like you,” Aoi promised.

Atsuro didn’t say anything, just pushed at Junpei until he stepped away so that Atsuro could put his arms around both girls.

On the way there, Midori got carsick and Koharu was uncharacteristically sulky. She said no every time she was told to eat and Akane nearly threw her hands up in frustration. They arrived late and tired and the kids were shuttled away to their own space and more testing.

Aoi said to Junpei, “Y’know we appreciate this.” He often spoke of himself and Akane as one person, and Junpei supposed they were after years compressed into a single unit. Aoi wouldn’t settle and he said, “It’s up to you if you stay.”

“Do you want me to leave?” He wouldn’t, so Aoi could stay disappointed. No matter what anyone said about Akane, Junpei knew her now and he saw how much she loved her kids.

“No,” he said. “Just jogging your memory.” He looked sidelong at Junpei. “She has a way of melting people’s brains and I want to make sure you’re doing this because you want to.”

“Of course I do.”

“If you say so.”

**

That night Koharu came to Junpei in tears. He was in the dining hall when she hurried to him and whispered, “I wanna go home, I wanna go home.” He didn’t know if she meant the house they’d come from or her real family.

He hushed her and tried to take her to Akane but she protested that she only wanted him, so he took her to his room. Once there she sat on his bed and cried and cried until he finally calmed her down enough to speak.

“Miss Akane said it wouldn’t hurt but she lied. My head hurts so much and I’m so tired.” She gulped. “I want my mom!” she wailed and wouldn’t be hushed again. “I don’t wanna go to a stupid school, I just wanna go home!”

Junpei held her but she still wouldn’t calm down. The commotion attracted a neighbor, who alerted Akane before Junpei could stop them. It was known enough that the kids were her responsibility. 

Koharu recoiled from Akane’s attempts to hug her, repeating, “You lied, you lied!” while sobbing.

Akane finally lost her temper with them for the first time he’d witnessed. “Stop it, just stop it,” she said sternly. “You can’t do this.”

Koharu cried harder until finally she hiccuped and exhausted herself; she kept her arms limp at her sides when Akane hugged her for real.

Akane continued, “You need to be strong for everyone. You’re going to be—”

“I’m not a hero!” Koharu whined. “I’m twelve.”

There was a knock at the door and Atsuro was there, wringing his hands. “Can I talk to Koharu?”

“You can.”

He sat next to her and their conversation was silent and judging by Akane’s frown, carefully concealed from her. She never expected them to use their powers to shut her out, clearly. Finally Atsuro patted Koharu’s cheek and wiped her teary eyes, and she fell into him, embracing him like she hadn’t even Junpei. Whatever he’d told her, she didn’t fuss anymore and followed Akane straight to bed.

Junpei couldn’t sleep after seeing that; he had memories of his own childhood. He’d wanted his mom too. He’d cried too, and he was only told to shut up and be happy he was there. He’d had Akane, but then he hadn’t. Diana was kind of his Atsuro, but for a long time she had disappeared too after she helped Phi and Sigma escape. She’d come back quiet and not herself at first, opening up again in a slow and incomplete manner.

Junpei decided he had to talk to Diana. Even if she was wrong about Akane, she gave solid advice in every other aspect of his life, and seeing Koharu so upset was too troublesome to hash out on his own. 

He found Diana in her room, looking tired and glaring at him but after he said he needed her, she let him inside.

“They were really upset,” he said. “And Akane was so…harsh.” Callous.

Diana crossed her arms. “You didn’t know her like you thought.”

“Come on, don’t do that,” he said.

“No, I… You really hurt me, Junpei. I was just trying to help you.”

“I know, sorry. She means well. I’m sure she’s just trying to help them, and she worked on this for so long, and…” He reached and reached but his reasons for defending her were growing farther away from him.

“From what I learned about Akane,” Diana said, “she doesn’t care about anything but her mission. Not anymore. That’s what they turned her into.”

_She’s right, you know,_ that Akane’s little voice said sadly. _Junpei, you know this is wrong. Listen to me, not her._

_Who are you?_ He wanted her to be anyone else; two Akanes was so confusing and had the potential to tear him in half and strand him in two worlds at once.

_I’m your Akane. And I’d never use you like she is. Don’t you think it’s strange that you’re so confused? That you stopped fighting her? She’s confounding you._

_What, with her powers?_

_Yes!_

_I don’t believe that._ Junpei huffed aloud.

_I would never lie to you,_ Akane said.

He remembered a warm and loving Akane, who held him after he had panic attacks and kept him safe. 

And then he shut her out with all his will. There was only one Akane he could follow, the one in the world he was currently in.

“Are you okay?” Diana asked.

Junpei didn’t know anymore.


	14. Chapter 14

Akane had less time to spend with him now that they had returned to base. She complained she had come back to a massive backlog of work and needed to focus. She’d stroked Junpei’s face and said that she didn’t want to go. Take care of the kids while I’m busy, she said.

Junpei found himself as a babysitter, though he had an unusual companion as she was a trained nurse: Diana.

“Miss Diana, come play with us,” Atsuro said warmly, waving to her from his place on the floor. The kids, Junpei, and Diana were in a testing room, taking a break with a board game. Junpei just had to watch, per orders, and though the girls had asked him to join he hadn’t.

“Okay.” Diana sat down with them, let Midori sit on her lap, and fixed the tiny braid in Koharu’s hair when she asked. “How’s everyone doing today?”

The kids talked over each other and Junpei smiled at their recovered energy. Lately they were tired and grouchy, less cooperative with testing and lessons. Midori didn’t sleep through the night and they begged to stay with Atsuro more often than not. Junpei tried to keep them happy and placated but they were still difficult to please so long as they still had to do tests.

“Is school gonna be like this?” Koharu would ask him, filled with doubt, and he didn’t know what to say.

‘Yes,’ he’d think. ‘It was like that, and more.’ But he couldn’t undermine Akane and Aoi, who though the kids were grumpy with, they still wanted. The old house was fun, the kids argued. They got to play all day and learn sometimes and Miss Akane and Mr. Aoi were always there for them.

Diana got up though they begged her to stay, and she gestured she wanted to talk to Junpei in the hall. Curious, he followed.

“The kids are sweet,” she started with. “How long until they go?”

“Four days,” he said. “They’re pissed about working so much, but they’ll be glad they did it when they get there.” He’d started doing that, he noticed, rationalizing the situation to anyone not intimately involved with the project. And he knew Diana was still not on board; she was there for the children, not for him.

Diana made a breathless ‘mmm’ sound, a noise of indecision. She knew better than to say anything about Akane; they had made up but barely since he hung up on her.

“That’s nice,” she said unenthusiastically. “Do you remember how hard we worked?” Her words were those of any schoolmate recalling the past, but her tone was cool.

“Yeah,” Junpei said awkwardly, wondering what she was getting at.

“Junpei’s right,” someone said behind them. “It was hard, but worth it.” Akane stood there with a woman standing behind her, and then one of the kids inside noticed her, calling ‘Miss Akane!’ 

Midori ran out to give her a hug. She hung on to Akane’s waist for a beat too long. Atsuro approached her too. Koharu stayed back, on the other side of Junpei and Diana. 

“Hello, hello,” Akane laughed. “How is everyone?”

“Where were you?” Atsuro complained.

“You know that, Atsuro,” Akane said. “Have you been working hard?”

Atsuro frowned. “Yes.”

Akane ignored his reluctance to speak and went on, “We’re going forward with the plan as scheduled. Everyone pack their things, you’re leaving in four days.”

“Can we take a break until then?” Koharu asked, her hand fisting in the back of Junpei’s shirt. “From testing.”

Akane looked at her, considering her with a neutral expression, before saying, “If you’ve been working hard, I don’t see why not.”

“Yay,” Midori said.

They implored Akane to play with them, but she waved them off. “Diana, the Luna scientists want you,” she said.

Diana paled but nodded. “Right. I guess I’ll go then,” she said, with a last look and wave at the kids before she left. She walked, slow and reluctant. Junpei wasn’t sure what she did all day; she was a nurse, yes, but she’d stopped working in the outside world with no explanation from herself last year. Now she mostly seemed to attend mystery meetings and give Junpei advice.

Akane handed the children off to the silent person who’d accompanied her, and then said, “Junpei, can I speak with you inside?” They stepped back into the testing room.

“How’s everything going?” he asked.

“Fine. It looks like they decided not to move after all and instead increase security.”

“Is that the best idea?”

Akane tilted her head, thinking. “I want this project to succeed more than anyone; I don’t want a delay.” She must’ve argued against that, then. “So I think we’ll be fine. You’re ready, right?” She kept asking him that as if scared he’d changed his mind.

“Yeah.” The word made him hot all of a sudden, shaky. He wanted her to believe him and wanted to be whatever she needed for this project. The kids were alright, he thought. The others would be as well. He’d survived.

Akane grabbed his shoulders. “Good.” She held his eye contact. “Thank you so much, Junpei.”

When Akane was happy with him, it felt better than a hug. Junpei wanted more and more of that feeling. He said, “I’m excited.” Feeling nervous was the same thing as excitement, right?

“Me too.” She smiled. She didn’t let go of him. “Have dinner with me tonight?”

“Sure.” He was short of breath.

“Good.”

**

Akane took dinner in her study as opposed to the dining hall; everything was cooked fresh as opposed to reheated or rehydrated from freeze-dried or concentrate. Just another perk of being Akane, he supposed. She wore a dark red dress and he was in his same boring clothes, having nothing better to wear. Everything he needed for the outside world was usually lended to him; he didn’t have so much as a suit.

Akane didn’t speak much at first, preferring to smile at him or give him long looks across the table. Junpei wondered if she’d sent her brother far away for the evening.

“Junpei,” she said after a long bit of silence, “I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Of course,” he said. “Me too.”

“I spent so long without you.” She clasped her hands over her breastbone. “And now you’re all mine again.”

“Um…”

“Sorry, I guess that’s a strange way to put it. I mean everything is normal now. I waited so long to see you again, but I always knew I would.” Morphogenetically? “And you’ve done so much for me, but I wanted… I wanted to ask you for one more thing.”

“What?”

Akane stood, coming to his side of the table, and held his face. “Don’t just stay for the project. Stay with me forever.”

Junpei felt hot. It would not be the first time he promised Akane forever, but that was a different Akane in a courthouse.

“Think about it—niichan is getting so busy with work, so he can’t be my right hand forever. But you could be! You’d help me with my projects, and we’d get to travel and see the world. And we’d never be apart again.”

“I—“

Akane was not accepting any counterargument and Junpei’s brain felt like it was covered in a heavy blanket. “Think about it,” she repeated, her tone commanding this time instead of hopeful. “It’s the best decision for everybody.”

Junpei did think about it. He thought about this Akane and how she viewed everything as an opportunity to better her name, how good she was with the kids, and how she looked on him like he was everything in the world. She wasn’t lying when she said she wanted him. And what did he have left here? Some people who wouldn’t talk to him and a job where he was liked but not loved, not essential. A faith he had never wanted to practice.

Akane could be his new religion, he thought.

“What if I can’t do it?”

“You can always succeed, if you want to,” she said, and then draped her arms over his shoulders, leaning down. “I won’t let you go like last time. I’m sorry I did.”

“You didn’t have a choice.”

“You have a choice right now. So what’ll it be?” Then Akane leaned down all the way and kissed him softly. “I just want you, Junpei.”

In a way, Junpei had been waiting to hear that since he was six years-old. He’d wanted to be Akane’s best friend, her number one, the person she always turned to for help. And now not only was she offering him that place by her side, but more.

Junpei sat up and kissed her back, pulling her in by the waist. He didn’t need to say it out loud. The answer was yes; it would always be yes.

Akane took him back to her room, which fortunately she wasn’t sharing with Aoi. It was larger than Junpei’s, with a comfortable bed and carpeting. Akane started to take her clothes off the moment the door was shut, though she needed help unzipping the dress in the back. After she removed her bra, there was no doubt about what they were going to do.

They continued kissing, sitting down on her bed, and she got into his lap and closed her legs around his waist, holding him put. She kissed down his neck, dragged her fingernails down his back. She was gravity, compelling him to stay right where he was, and he didn’t complain.

When she bit the fragile skin between his neck and shoulder, he had a flash of a different but similar woman doing the same, only back then she’d always bit down a little too hard, then self-consciously giggled at her mistake. That Akane was unsure of herself, but gentle and giving; she didn’t have sex with him like she was trying to possess him, as the Akane in his lap was. The force in her kisses, the way she held on to him were familiar only with the fiercest Akane. 

She rode him and when she came, she dug her nails in so hard he thought the skin was breaking.

Sated and boneless, Akane was like a big cat at rest, playing with his limp hand, folding the fingers down one-by-one. She kissed his knuckles. She said, “I waited so long for that.”

Junpei felt like he was still waiting, though he couldn’t say why. He pressed an open-mouth kiss to her neck, making her giggle. He knew he’d done something right because she was happy, but he still felt restless.

He dozed off and woke up to her straddling him again, looking down curious and aroused and putting a hand below his waist, wrapping it around him and stroking. They had sex once more and finally she got up, wrapping herself in a robe on the door and going to the attached bathroom. When she returned she curled up beside him, humming softly. Junpei stroked her hair, and then he fell asleep.

**

The next morning, Aoi seemed to know something was going on as he tossed them suspicious looks. They ate breakfast together and Junpei realized a bit late that he was wearing yesterday’s clothes. The kids were allowed to join them and they all looked like a little family that way.

“Three days,” Akane said in a singsong tone. “Who’s ready?”

“Me!” Midori said.

“Me,” Atusro said.

Koharu was quiet; Akane didn’t miss this.

“Koharu?”

“Um, me too.”

“Good.”

The kids were shuttled out for more testing, something they complained about, Koharu saying again that Akane broke her promise. They were more vocal now about not liking what they had to do, the blood taking and electrodes now involved instead of games with Akane and Aoi. Akane just told them to persevere, to be a good example.

When she excused herself to use the bathroom, Aoi said, “So you’re serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmph. Didn’t expect that.”

“What else am I supposed to do?”

“It’s your life. I just thought you’d choose differently after all.”

Then Aoi didn’t know him. He’d never leave Akane.

“Did you want her all to yourself?” Junpei swirled his spoon in his oatmeal. “Is that what this is about?”

“Calm down, it’s not like that.”

“What is it like? Am I not good enough for this?” He asked himself if he would be enough for this in the end. He didn’t know.

“Never mind, Junpei. It doesn’t matter now,” Aoi said. He was distracted and didn’t greet Akane when she returned.

She left Junpei for more meetings and he joined a group covering last-minute logistics; the other kids had been successfully retrieved and were en route to the school. Junpei, satisfied, traced the routes spiraling outward from the destination. Kids were coming from Japan and America again, and for a moment Junpei thought about all the work ahead of them, of calming them down enough to work. He knew how it had gone in his time; this time it would be different.

He bumped into Diana coming back from seeing the kids. 

“How are they?”

“Very grumpy today.” She rubbed her arm. “They hate needles.”

So did Junpei. Fortunately he hadn’t been tested in a long time. “Thanks for being there for them.”

Diana paused before stroking her bottom lip with her thumb and saying, “I did it for them.”

“So do I.”

“Do you,” she said, a cool observation.

“Akane’s not the boss of me,” he said bitterly. She was his girlfriend; she wanted to be with him forever and he’d acquiesce. “I do it because I want to.”

“Okay.”

Junpei could push it, but he could tell by the set of her shoulders and rolled eyes that Diana really didn’t care anymore. She was in a place he couldn’t reach her.

“What do you really do here?” he asked her. “I know you’re part of some project, but what do you _do_?”

“Whatever they want me to do,” she said, looking at her skirt. “It’s not hard. The Luna Project is my main one.”

He’d heard the term before from Diana, but he’d never looked into it. It was difficult to find any publicly available information on it, like most projects one wasn’t assigned to. People took the divisions seriously and didn’t talk among themselves.

“What is it?”

“You know I can’t tell you that,” she said, annoyed.

“Well, tell me something! Before I stop trusting you.”

“You already don’t,” Diana said, and then she left him.

“What is your problem?” he called after her, but she walked briskly away.

**

The last few days passed in a whirl of tests, prep, and stolen moments with Akane. She was ecstatic when the day came to take the last three kids in, and hustled them out to the van as fast as she could.

Koharu was dragging her feet, and when she got to the van she refused to get in, before bursting into tears. 

“I don’t wanna go!”

“Koharu,” Akane said sternly, and that was her only warning before someone picked her up under the arms and forcibly put her inside. Koharu gripped the edge of the door with her fingers, desperately holding on, and without thinking Junpei reached out and peeled them off even when she cried his name. She pounded on the window after the door shut, and Atsuro put his arms around her from behind. She cried almost all the way there.

The drive was tense.

When he saw the facility in the distance, Junpei held his breath. Memories flashed through his head of coming here the first night. He’d been exhausted, bleary from a trans-Pacific flight (and he spent a not-brief period of it handcuffed) and holding Akane’s hand until they were separated. The desert night had been freezing even through his dual shirts. Waiting outside in two lines, he noticed he was shaking so hard until an older boy put his jacket over his shoulders. Aoi’s school jacket.

He was cold now in the van. Akane beside him didn’t matter; his breath quickened.

“Well,” Aoi said, “we’re here.”

They filed inside through massive gates that parted for their car as they drove up. Nobody was outside save two guards, who scanned their paperwork before letting everyone in.

Junpei expected chaos on the inside, but instead everything was quiet. It was midday and he supposed they were still getting adjusted or testing. When it came time for the kids to leave, Koharu clung to his arm and again had to be pulled and dragged away. Her face screamed betrayal and she cried, “Miss Akane!” but her plea went unheard.

They dropped off their bags and Junpei felt like he was on vacation, not settling into a new home for now. He wondered if the kids felt the same way. They went immediately to peek in on the new kids, and the moment he saw them, Junpei knew something was off.

They sat silently at first, frozen under new watchful eyes, some looking right at him and others looking like they wanted to disappear. Nobody greeted Akane at her, “Hello!” and she folded her hands over her stomach, eyes sweeping over them. Behind her, Aoi put his hands in his pockets and was unreadable. “How is everyone?”

One girl, a teenager, finally found her courage and said, “Go to hell.” Immediately, she was snapped up and started to be dragged out the door; she kicked and grunted and fought but couldn’t escape. 

“Where is she going?” Junpei asked quietly.

“Well,” Akane said with a flat tone, “we can’t have that.”

Junpei thought of the tools that were likely awaiting her, the methods, the pain, and he swallowed. He was cold down to his fingertips and he knew none of Akane’s warmth would reach him.

The kids grew bolder and started to fuss, working out if Akane could be swayed like the other minders couldn’t, and Akane quietly shook her head and said, “No, no, none of that. You’re all blessed to be here, so act like it.” Her tone was deceptively gentle. She gave her little speech over their noise and fidgeting and attempts to get up and leave the room. When she was done she gave them all a little wave and gestured to Junpei and Aoi that they were leaving.

In the hallway, she shook her head. “I knew this would be hard.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Aoi said, scratching his temple.

“If I have you two,” she said warmly.

 _Does she have you?_ the other Akane sent him, her voice hurt and judgmental like Diana’s had been.

“Yes,” Junpei said aloud, in defiance, though his hands shook like they had back then. He was flooded with memories of his own time here, and Akane noticed he wasn’t breathing normally and gave him a curious look.

“It’ll be fine, Junpei.”

**

But it wasn’t fine. The students continued resisting, fighting, grieving, and they didn't care about a word Junpei said. They didn’t want to be anything other than kids, they didn’t understand what they were doing there, and they just wanted to go home.

“What if we can’t get through to them?” he asked Akane one night.

She shook her head and said, “We will. It worked on us.”

Junpei dreaded hearing that; he’d already seen kids leave and return with mysterious bruising and swelling, pale and tired. He started to hate going to class to sit in and seeing them confused, in pain, and mournful. When he had to push away a little boy who came to him for a hug, something broke.

He fled the room, running down the halls towards the doors, past the guards, until he was at the edge of the fence. He paced along its length, struggling to breathe, putting his hands over his mouth to hold in vomit.

“What are you doing?” Aoi called to him, walking quickly.

“I... I can’t go back in there,” Junpei finally said, gulping air. “I have to go.”

“It’s a little late for that. I did tell you.”

“Shut the hell up!”

“No. You missed your chance to go, so suck it up.”

“Why are _you_ judging me? You’re doing the same thing.”

“And I know what I am. Time you accept what you are.”

What was Junpei? Unable to fulfill this promise, he decided.

So he found the one person who would understand him.

Koharu wasn’t bruised or injured in any way, which he was thankful for. The first thing he did was bend over and try to give her a hug, but she shoved him.

“Go away.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’m going to get you out of here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but you have to make me a little promise, okay? You can’t tell anyone, and when the adults come to save you, you have to go with them. I’ll ask them to find your mom and dad, I’ll ask them to send you to a real school, anything you want. But you can’t tell yet.”

“Okay. Promise.” She nodded. “Thanks.”

 _Junpei,_ the other Akane said, _I’m really proud of you._

 _Thanks, but save it for when I’m done._ After a beat. _I’m so sorry._

_Come home so we can talk about it._

He would. The first thing he did was sneak into the lab and steal some of the esper enhancing drugs, and the second thing he did was go to the communications room and tell the operator he was dismissed by Akane herself, that Junpei was replacing him for the afternoon. Junpei booted up the computer. 

SOIS was a very secret agency, they were only a name on a blank website, with a phone number for anonymous tips for threats to homeland security.

He called using the communications equipment, provided their exact location and what was going on, and advised them of the additional security measures in place.

And then he waited.

**

When SOIS stormed the facility a few days later, Junpei surrendered immediately. He let himself be pushed facedown on the floor, cuffed, and yanked upright and marched outside. Guilt still warred with relief inside of him, but seeing the kids marching out single file and knowing soon they’d be home again comforted him.

Seeing Akane in handcuffs did not. She was furious, yelling that they had no right to interrupt, that they were cursing the world and making it a worse place, and then she was taken around a corner and he lost sight of her.

He was pushed into a van like Koharu had been days ago, and when he made eye contact with his captor he held his breath.

“Sigma?”

Sigma blinked. “Do I know you?”

“It’s Junpei!”

Sigma looked at him like he was pitiable for a moment before he muttered, “Sorry about this. Wish we’d met under better circumstances.”

“Nah,” Junpei said after a moment. “I had my chance to change.”

“Sigma, hurry up,” a young woman called, just out of Junpei’s sight, and without seeing her he still knew it was Phi, remembering her adult voice from another history. Junpei ground his toes against the lining of his shoe, thinking of the esper drug in his veins now. He’d swallowed it all when the first alarm went off and now he was starting to feel shaky. 

Sigma shut the door. 

Junpei was squeezed in between others, and their presences swarmed him, but he was rising like hot air above it all. He was just a brain now, a balloon with a cut tether.

 _Bye,_ he sent this history’s Akane, and felt the sharp yank of her mind as she fruitlessly reached for him one last time, trying to keep him in her thrall. _I hope you make better choices from now on._

He was going home.

**

The first thing he heard was Akane’s soft gasp. Then he felt that he was still tied to a headboard. Opening his eyes, he saw Akane and Tanaka in the room.

“Can you let me out of this?” he groaned.

“No,” Akane said, guarded.

“Akane, it’s me.”

“Nice try.”

“When we were in the hotel room that first night, you talked about eschatology. Millennial, I think.”

“Akane, he could’ve got that answer through the fields,” Tanaka said.

“And I remember two different versions of your wedding ring, and I’ve definitely hopped a few worlds.” He smiled at her, grateful just to see her again and know that it was his Akane. “And I was wrong to not believe you about the other Akane.”

“Junpei…” she said softly, before throwing herself across the bed, landing on him to his ‘Oof.’ “Junpei! It’s you!” She squeezed his neck and though she wasn’t crying she was sniffling, rubbing her cheek against his head and whispering to him.

“Uh. I’ll leave you two alone,” Tanaka said before doing so.

Akane untied him, kissed him, and said, “I thought you were gone. The other Junpei was a jerk!”

“Well, I was pretty jerky until recently.”

“Not like this.” She kissed him again. “I’m so happy…and you’re in so much trouble for being a jerk, don’t worry. But I’m really proud of you, too.” She pressed her forehead to his. “Welcome home.”

“Yeah. I’m back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome home, Junpei! We're now halfway done this fic.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can either bang out five chapters at once, or take weeks to write one fairly straightforward chapter. I don't know why I'm like this. That said, this story is now rated Explicit for sexual content.

“Where’s Aoi?” Junpei asked, looking between Akane and Tanaka. He noticed Aoi’s absence as nobody was being quippy or interrupting him.

Akane and Tanaka looked at each other before Akane said, “Niichan went back to Free the Soul. They recalled him and he couldn’t stall anymore.”

Junpei furrowed his brow. “What about the other Junpei? Did I try to do anything to you?” He was worried about what his other Free the Soul half had been up to while he was away.

“You tried to run away so we had to, uh, tie you up,” Tanaka said.

Akane changed the subject. “We haven’t heard anything from niichan since he left three days ago.” She sighed and brushed her hair behind her ear.

“I was out that long?”

“Yes,” Akane said, looking lonely. “What did you do?” Akane had seen bits and pieces, she explained, but not the whole of Junpei’s journey.

Junpei explained everything he’d seen and done and finished with, “I think I have enough information to give to SOIS so they can find those kids.”

“SOIS? You sure?” Tanaka was surprised; they had avoided organizations like SOIS for years, both for privacy and independence and because they didn’t want to operate with all the red tape. For years, it had been only each other or nothing. That used to comfort Junpei.

Junpei nodded. “I’m sure. We’re going to need help if we want to help.”

Tanaka said, “Good decision, if you believe in it.”

“I do.”

Tanaka cleared his throat, glancing at Akane. “I’m going to make some calls back at the office. Rest up and meet me there tonight so we can talk about Aoi.” Tanaka put his hand on Akane’s shoulder, anticipating her next concern. She smiled at him and didn’t speak.

Tanaka left them alone.

Junpei went to go sit down at his laptop. The sooner he got to work, the better, before the memories faded.

“Wait,” Akane said, catching his hand and holding him there. When he turned back to look at her, she kissed him, putting her other hand in his hair, breaking for air, and then kissing him again open-mouthed.

In bed they tangled like vines, Akane pulling his just-donned shirt off over his head and licking his exposed nipple, sucking on it and rolling the other one between her thumb and forefinger. She bit and caressed and stroked him. She took her dress off and straddled his waist, cradling her breasts with her arms.

She scooted up his body before lowering herself over his face. She was hot, wet, saline, and familiar. He owed her this much after shoving her aside for so long, to make her feel special and loved. She moaned unrestrained as he licked her, then plied her open with three fingers, rubbing the wall inside. When she moved he moved with her, feeling his lower half tight and achy but knowing he had to make it up to her first.

She came against his mouth, clutching at his hair and groaning, arching her back over him. When she recovered, she moved down his body again, stroking him, and sat down. Junpei felt like he was finally home. She made eye contact with him as she moved above him, smiled, and squeezed herself around him. She sighed when he reached up and groped her breast, then brought his hands around to grip her ass. She rubbed herself between them.

“Akane,”

“Shh, shh.”

“Akane, I...”

“Not yet!”

“Not that! I just…I really missed you.”

She stopped moving, stared at him, and then said, “Say I’m the only Akane.” She ground her pelvis against his. “Say I’m the only one.”

“You’re the only Akane for me.” He wanted to say she didn’t have to compete with the other Akane, that that Akane was going to haunt him, not be in his daydreams, but he saw the same focused, hunting look in his Akane’s eyes and knew better than to interrupt her.

“Good. I’m your only wife,” she said, almost an order. And then she started to move again.

He almost got a leg cramp when he came. Akane looked down at him with satisfaction. They lay in bed together after, and when she said, “Mr. Tanaka will be looking for us,” he said, “Shhhhh.” They dozed off together, curled up and safe.

**

They woke up mid-afternoon, and got out of bed slowly, leisurely, like they had time. Once awake Akane was wired, talking about how they were going to find her brother, theories of time, and what Junpei had seen on the other side. He tried to assuage her fears, and she didn’t stop. She never stopped if she was onto something. It was both frustrating and endearing about her; she was always an odd girl.

They made their way to Tanaka’s, their former home, and on the drive Akane took Junpei’s hand and held it.

“We’ll find him,” Junpei promised.

“I know.”

Inside, Tanaka had organized the office, instead of the usual bomb that had gone off inside of it. It looked too calm, too organized.

“Good job,” Akane complimented, and he snorted.

“It’s easier without you two living here,” he said. “Always looked like a hurricane,” he said fondly.

“Hey, you’ve seen our apartment,” Junpei said. His housekeeping skills were marginally better than Akane’s. He never ran out of clean clothes. Not anymore.

“Back to work,” Akane said. “Did you look into SOIS?”

“Yeah, hard people to find, but I managed to get a tip number.” He held a pad of paper out to Junpei. “Write down everything you know.”

Junpei did so standing at the table, feeling restless and nervous and hopeful. He could remember the kids, the location, the very coordinates, the timeline. They were likely already there now, he realized. He wondered if Atsuro, Koharu, and Midori were there. Was Aoi there? He’d been nervous about his fate once his boss realized something was up, and if they’d recalled him so quickly it couldn’t be for good news.

“I think that’s it,” Junpei said.

“Good job,” Akane said. 

They organized the information and then sent the message, making the call with dead seriousness. When it was over, they were silent for a moment before someone exclaimed, “Yes!” and they prematurely cheered, Junpei swept Akane up, and Tanaka put an arm around both of their necks. Years of anger and worry was draining out, and the good deed on top of it was enough. Their jubilation died down back to silence, Junpei still holding Akane before letting each other go.

“So now we work on niichan,” she said.

“Yeah,” Junpei said.

“That’s more good news: he told me what the name of his firm was when he was still here,” Akane said. “Maybe we can find out his whereabouts if we ask around.”

“That might look suspicious.”

“Not if we pretend to be clients, or maybe Free the Soul agents, like a certain somebody knows how to do now?”

Junpei made a ‘hmm’ noise. His memories were growing fuzzy and while he was sure he could come up with _something_ plausible on the surface, it would collapse with any scrutiny especially when they were known quantities.

“I can do us one better,” he said. “Let’s call Phi and Sigma.”

“Them? What will they do for us?”

“They’re trusted and they know how to get in and out of places undetected, and we have leverage. Just trust me.”

He called them, and when they answered he just said, “You’re going to help us, or else I’ll tell them where Diana is.”

When Phi spoke, he was on speaker. “We’ll move her before they find her.”

“Can you do it forever? And they know where you two are. If I tell them what you know, can you stand up to torture for days? Weeks? Months?”

Sigma protested, “I saw you. You wouldn’t do that to Diana.”

“ _I_ already have someone ready to swoop in and save Diana before they find her,” Junpei lied. “I don’t want them to break her. I’ll let them break you. I won’t pull the trigger if you help us.”

Hesitation, before Phi sighed, “What do you want?”

“Do you know how to find missing people?”

“Yes.”

“You’re going to find Aoi and tell us where he is and how to get him. That’s it.”

“...Fine. If you go back on your deal, I’ll tell where _you_ are.”

“Then as long as we both hold up our ends of the bargain, nobody is in trouble,” he said smoothly.

“Sounds like it.”

He hung up and felt like a spy in a movie.

“Junpei,” Akane said, looking cautious for a moment before smiling. “That was excellent.”

He wanted to bask in that, but Tanaka changed the subject to false identities for probing Aoi’s employer. They agreed on a plan and seeing as it was outside of normal business hours decided to wait to call tomorrow.

“Anyone hungry?” Tanaka said, and they made dinner together like it was old times.

**

They called the next day; a reluctant secretary informed them that Aoi wasn’t in and she didn’t know when he’d return. No matter how Akane pressed, the secretary merely got snippy and cold and hung up the call.

Akane sighed and handed the phone off to Junpei.

Junpei called Aoi’s direct line, looked up from the directory on the website, and got a voicemail. Calling a different secretary revealed he wasn’t taking any new clients and was on leave of absence, so nothing new.

Tanaka got slightly further by breaking out his ‘cop voice’ with the senior assistant, but she merely gave them an address and invited them to come in person with legal representation and a warrant if they had any inquiries related to a criminal investigation.

Akane was about to pull out her hair; it was obvious from the slight twitch of her lips, the way she gestured at the air.

So they called Phi again, and after managing to keep her on the phone for two minutes managed to trace her general location to south of Reno. When he told her that, Phi was quiet before swearing and then asking what else he wanted.

“When you find it, help us break in. Unless you want me to make a phone call.”

“Fine.” She reported they had no news yet; no activity on Aoi’s phone, which they’d confirmed already, and no activity on his cards. Junpei admired their ability to get information; people whose job it was to make problems go away probably had a lot of tricks and tools. “I’ll call you back.”

He heard someone talking in the background, and then she hung up.

“So we have nothing,” Junpei groused. Akane joined him.

“Stop pouting,” Tanaka said, getting up and stretching and resembling a large bear standing on its hind legs. “We’ll find him.”

“Did he tell you anything else?” Junpei asked.

Akane worried her lip before saying, “Just his job and that he had to go back if they called him. I think we should go there ourselves to find someone.”

“What if Phi and Sigma call back and he’s in the opposite direction?”

They both looked to Tanaka, who looked at them flatly before saying, “Are you kidding me?”

“Pleeeaaassseee Seven?”

“We can handle ourselves,” Junpei added. He snapped his fingers. “And I do know the location of a Free the Soul base. If we could get inside we might be able to get some information.”

“So I’ll handle infiltrating it,” Tanaka said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. You two are burned to them. It just makes sense.”

Akane got up and hugged him. Always a bit awkward about receiving physical affection though he was happy to give it, Tanaka patted her back before stepping out.

“Eventually I gotta do my real job,” he grumbled, though his protests were weak.

**

Flying was quicker than driving, so they flew to LA while Tanaka drove to his destination provided by Junpei. On the way Akane bounced her foot, while trying to read to distract herself. Once there they rented a car and followed a GPS to Aoi’s office.

In the car, Junpei said, “So what is our angle?”

Akane held up Aoi’s coin, and to Junpei’s relief it looked the same as it had when he was in this history earlier. “He gave it to me. I think if we pretend, we can slip through to someone higher up.”

The secretary did respond to the coin; her eyes widened and she buzzed them through, directing them down a hall and to their left, where they knocked on a closed office door. Junpei recognized the man as Aoi’s direct supervisor, from his visions.

The supervisor told them that he was sorry but Aoi was gone. They pressed and he did admit that Aoi had been picked up directly from work, and that surely if they knew his latest activities they understood the suspicion.

“Where was he reassigned?”

“He wasn’t,” the manager said, looking down at his paperwork. “He’s being disciplined,” he finally admitted.

“Where?”

“I don’t know.”

They got no more information and so they had to leave. In the car Akane slapped the dashboard. “Every time!”

Junpei couldn’t say it would be okay. Discipline was torture, no way around that. Aoi could be dead, and if he wasn’t he was certainly suffering.

When Akane was truly upset, she didn’t cry, she got angry. Now she was glaring into the middle distance before she said, “If he’s dead I’ll destroy them.”

“I know you will.”

“I didn’t— I told him not to...” She pounded the dash again. “He never listened to me! And he lied, and he— He—”

“He’s not going to leave you again,” Junpei said. “We won’t let him.”

“How do you know that?”

“I really don’t,” he admitted. “I just know if he’s still alive, he’s trying to get back to you.”

Akane lowered her head and really did start to cry then.

**

Tanaka wasn’t in touch but that wasn’t unusual; they had plans to meet, Aoi or no Aoi, at a safehouse near home, the same one Junpei had SHIFTed from in that other good-Akane timeline. So they had to trust him.

Phi did call and explain they were on their way to LA themselves, and they’d meet to discuss their information on Aoi. They thought they had a location.

They still had hours to wait, so they spent it in a motel room holding each other and dozing, feeling the exhaustion of the past few days. He felt lucky that Akane still trusted him and had taken him back. Finally when the time came to leave, they again left reluctantly. Junpei just wanted a real rest. When this was all over he was renting out the suite in the Odyssey himself and sleeping for a week. Akane could come if she wanted to.

The location was a restaurant, nondescript. Phi was not happy to see them; Sigma was slightly more affable but following Phi’s reserved lead. Diana was nowhere.

“Are you happy with yourself?” Phi led with, staring Junpei down.

“Yes,” Akane chirped. “If you have what I want.”

“Something like it,” Sigma chimed in. “We think Aoi was relocated to a facility in NorCal. It’s where people go to be, er…”

“Tortured,” Junpei said.

“The term is reeducated.”

“Same thing from what I remember,” Akane said. “The second part of our favor: Can you get us inside?”

“Maybe as prisoners,” Phi quipped.

Akane paused, and he could see her thinking. She was his wife; he didn’t have to think hard.

He pulled Akane away to talk to her in private, in the single bathroom.

“They will kill us if they know who we are.” Truthfully, she might still have some value; he knew from the other history she had been powerful. She still could be.

“If Phi and Sigma help us, and Mr. Tanaka knows and can call in favors…”

“I can’t take that risk with you.”

“I will with or without you,” she said simply. “He’s my brother. There is nobody else like him in the world to me.”

Junpei wanted to point out that in essence he had no family left besides Akane and Tanaka, but comparing didn’t seem helpful right now. Before they were taken, Akane hadn’t known having a complete family; instead there was only Aoi. Only one person.

“What about contractors?” he tried instead. “We don’t get taken prisoner and we have more freedom of motion around the building. Or Phi and Sigma’s weird detective associates.”

They agreed it might work better, and decided to make it happen. They’d be associates of Phi and Sigma, people they used to track down Aoi, who wanted to see him to ask about a separate case they were working on. It was a weak disguise that depended on people not asking too many questions, but less had worked before.

They got permission to enter the facility, and before they left they decided to regroup at the hotel for the last-minute briefing. They briefed, and before the other two left Junpei asked, “Where’s Diana?”

“Somewhere safe,” Sigma promised, hands in his pockets.

That was all they got.

When they were alone, Akane climbed into his lap again, looked into his eyes, and then buried her face between his neck and shoulder. He held her, and they embraced for a long time.

“What was it like?” she asked. “SHIFTing.”

“Disorienting.” Scary. “Tiresome. I missed you.” He missed her the whole time, even when he thought he didn’t. He needed her, he wanted her. “You were fascinated, of course.”

“Of course.”

“Couldn’t stop theorizing.” He smiled and stroked her hair. “It was like you’d gotten a present.”

“It’s not every day you meet someone who can do that. And I guess you’re interesting enough,” she teased.

He knew Akane was capable of ruling the world if she felt like it, and here she was with him, loving him, spending her life with him. She could’ve left at any time. And she didn’t. He was so grateful that she didn’t.

“So are you.”

“We’ll have to keep moving for a while when we find niichan. They’ll be looking for him.”

“So we’ll run,” he said.

“They might catch us.”

“We’ll fight. And if we die then at least we die together.”

“Thank you, Junpei.”

“Anytime.”

She kissed him, seeking and hungry, and this time she just needed, she didn’t want to dominate or confuse or own him. He acquiesced, and when they had sex it was gentle this time. Loving. Everything he was embarrassed to describe sex as, if he had to at gunpoint. She was just love and life and the future ahead of him.

She was everything.


End file.
